


98 percent

by HealthPotion



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Friends With Benefits, OC is bisexual, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, University AU, a liiiiiitle bit of angst I guess?, lots of platonic Terushima/OC in later chapters, mentions of Shimizu/OC, mentions of Terushima/OC, mentions of alcohol and weed, mostly just comedy with some smut and fluff really, painfully slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-24 23:43:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 77,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12023571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HealthPotion/pseuds/HealthPotion
Summary: "A lot of the time we become too focused on the people we've lost and forget about the people we still have in our lives." /// University, Oikawa/OC. (who is pretty much a blank slate appearance wise so feel free to replace her name and treat this as a reader fic!) ♥





	1. Chapter 1

**+Info+**

Feel free to treat this as a reader fic! OC is pretty much a blank slate so I really won't mind if you change her name.

* * *

 **Lemon hunters:** story is mostly plot but I will update here with chapters that have anything sexual. I got'chu fam.

 _Chapter 15 - lime_  
Chapter 18 - short, uh, interaction at the beginning  
Chapter 21 - lemon  
Chapter 23 - lemon

* * *

  **Playlist:**  look up 'misshealthpotion' on YouTube, playlist is called '98 percent'. If you want to, of course. My music taste is weird and all over the place, so please don't feel obliged. The first three songs are what inspired this mess, the rest are random in no particular order. I'll keep adding to it as I go, it's just some stuff I like to listen to while writing this!

* * *

 **Key** \- it's the usual fanfic stuff:

"Talking."  
_Thinking._

* * *

**98 percent**

**Chapter 1**

Ikeda Haruko was standing in front of the gym's door, behind which she could hear the faint sound of volleyballs hitting the ground.

_Guess everyone's already here then. Okay. You got this._

She wrapped her arms around her tablet computer and clutched it to her chest, then slowly opened the sliding door and took a few steps into the gym.

The boys who were practicing inside were too busy to notice her come in, though.

_Aaaand there he is... OKAY time to stop staring, dumbass._

She closed her eyes for a bit, took a deep breath and started looking for the coach of the volleyball team inside. He was a few meters away focusing on their training. As she walked up to him, he noticed and greeted her.

"Ikeda-san, hello! Glad to see you. I'm guessing all the paperwork is finished?" he asked.

"Yup, all done Mukai-sensei! I'm ready to roll." she said with a smile.

"Good to hear you so excited – the boys have been dying to meet you, too!"

She gave him a slight nod and chuckled. Mukai Hisao was the Shokey Gakuin University's boys' volleyball club coach. Soon after their short exchange, he called the team over.

Haruko felt a little tense as they were approaching. Even though she wasn't very short herself, they were still super tall.

As they stopped and gathered around eyeing her, the coach gave Haruko a "go on" look.

"Ah!" she said, turning to them, "Right, let me introduce myself. I'm Ikeda Haruko, I'll be your manager starting today."

After hearing a few "nice to meet you"s and "oooh!"s from around the group, the coach spoke up again.

"I expect you all to welcome Ikeda-san just like you welcomed your teammates, as she will be part of the team from now on. We'll take a short break now so feel free to chat and get to know each other."

The coach left the team and Haruko alone and, for a moment, she felt like she was surrounded by giants.

"Don't you worry Ikeda-san!" one of the guys said, breaking the silence and throwing his arm around her shoulder, "You'll fit right in, coach almost made it sound like we're some assholes with that serious tone!"

"Maki you are literally the biggest asshole here." one of the other guys said to him, making others snicker and making Maki let go of Haruko to go smack him.

"Not true. We all know Shittykawa's the biggest asshole here." another said.

"Iwa-chan! Honestly this is why I never make a good impression with you around. It's Oikawa, actually." the man himself spoke up soon after, turning to Haruko, "It's a pleasure to meet you and please, ignore my friend. He's not good with the ladies and-oomph!"

Oikawa grunted mid-sentence, smirking, after his friend punched him in the arm. "Anyway," he started, "name's Iwaizumi Hajime."

The rest of the team members introduced themselves as well, though Haruko was having an incredibly difficult time remembering their names right off the bat, apart from Oikawa and Iwaizumi, thanks to the former one being dramatic. And charismatic. And hot.

_Oh my god shut up, Haruko. Don't be weird._

Thankfully Haruko couldn't dwell on her thoughts for too long before the chat between them continued.

"So," Iwaizumi spoke up again, turning to Haruko, "what brings you to us?"

"Ah, well," she began, "to be perfectly fair I don't know much about volleyball, but what I'm good at is organization. So I suppose…"

She kept on going for a while, trying to calm down her thoughts.

_It's fine. Just give them all equal attention and you're good. This is not the time to be staring at Mr. Playgirl Supermodel over there._

"…and while helping you guys out I can learn a bit more about time management, and, well, management in general." she finished, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"So it's a win for us and a win for Ike-chan!" Oikawa spoke up again, catching her off guard with the immediate nickname.

_I—Ike-chan? I mean I've heard him do the nickname thing to everyone, but still, that is just-_

"Say, Ike-chan," he said, grabbing her attention once again, "aren't you from one of my classes?"

"Hmm, probably?"  _I am, I very much am, several actually._  "I think I have classes with most first-years here though. But since we're just a few weeks into the school year I guess I haven't had the chance to get to know everyone yet."

Before anyone could say anything else, a whistle blew and coach Mukai advised everyone to get back to practice. As the team left, Haruko went over to the coach who was waving to her.

"While they're busy, let me tell you more about your duties as a manager."

* * *

_Dear Diary,_

_A new school year, a new diary! I have no idea why I keep attempting these when lately I drop them after a month._

_Well, university year, actually, not school year. Same thing. I guess I should feel like an adult now, though, but I really don't lmao. Few weeks in and I'm already making dumb decisions! :D_

_I did it. I joined the volleyball club as a manager. I'm kind of ashamed? I guess? But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. TL;DR I kind of joined them just to get with their captain? Okay, to be perfectly fair, Oikawa isn't 100% the reason for joining. I really meant what I said to them, this will help me skill-wise. Probably. But he's still like 99% of it. I wanted to call my sister to tell her about this but I can already hear her calling me thirsty so I think I'll keep this to myself. The less people know about this, the better._

_It's selfish, what I'm doing, I know. But even if I don't manage to get his attention I'll be satisfied with watching him play. Even watching him walk up the stairs in our lecture theatres, my god. The man belongs in a museum. Still can't get him out of my head when I saw him on the first day, he definitely looks better with glasses. No glasses Oikawa – 10/10. Glasses Oikawa – 15/10. Plain hoodie, messy hair, just a regular ol' university student, except with a face taken straight out of a playgirl magazine. Mr. Playgirl Supermodel._

_God, I sound like one of his fangirls. Few weeks into the year and he already has a small fanclub. Truth be told, though, I kind of wanted to join them at times. He seemed to be genuinely nice to them and the attention would have been flattering, but I figured I wouldn't get far with just following him around like that._

_Being part of their team... that's a different story. Definitely beats looking at him through my tablet screen's reflection during lectures. Now that I've written that down I have realized how ridiculous that sounds. Oh well!_

_Do I want a relationship with the guy? No, probably not. Doesn't look like the type who would do well in a relationship anyway. Not like I know him, but rumours spread fast, and as much as I try not to judge he does give off a playboy vibe. Do I want to get with him? Yeah, probably. Absolutely. That would be fun._

_Though…_

_Watching Oikawa play today, he seemed to have already gotten close to a completely new team. I think Iwaizumi was with him in high school from what I've heard, but the rest of them seem to have met him just this year. I imagine he would be pretty pissed if he were to find out why I joined. He seems to really care about volleyball, as well as his team, so that could cause like, a massive problem._

_Ah crap okay I just started realizing how much I could mess things up. If he does find out I'll probably get a hitman sent on me. Okay okay, that's just an exaggeration, but surely I'd have to quit and rumors would ruin the rest of my time at university, cause who wants to be friends with the bitchy, manipulative manager, right? Eugh._

_Ok ok ok, this is really not the time to be realizing how horrible I am. I've already put myself in this mess without thinking it through, so I might as well roll with it. Hopefully this will turn out to be fun. Who knows._

_Haruko xx_

* * *

Day two of Haruko's new club activities wasn't all too stressful. She was getting used to her duties and getting to know her new teammates better. She would be stuck with all of them for quite some time, so it wouldn't hurt to make friends. She still had trouble remembering all of their names apart from Oikawa and Iwaizumi and.. Mika? Mako?.. Maki! Those three and two other boys seemed to be first years, though most of the team consisted of second and third years.

What seemed to be an uneventful day soon turned around to give Haruko a surprise.

After practice, right before reaching the spot where she left her bike, a few girls approached her. They seemed to be students in her university as well.

"Ah excuse me!" one of them called out to Haruko, "are you the volleyball club's new manager? The one Oikawa-kun is in?"

She nodded, slowly.

_Ah crap... they are probably a few of his fangirls... I completely forgot about them and didn't even realize this could be troubleso-_

"Ahhh that is so cool!" one of them exclaimed, making Haruko jump slightly and widen her eyes, "You gotta tell us everything!"

Haruko was dumbfounded. "..Eh?"

"You know! What he's like in practice! We've seen a few of his games but-"

"-but it's not the same as seeing him up-close while he's playing!" the other girl finished, rising her index finger up.

"Yeah yeah!"

"Um.." Haruko was a little shocked to see them be so.. nice? And cheerful? And not jealous? "Well, I haven't spent much time around Oi-um, the team. So I can't really say much, I've been a bit distracted by all the work."

"Aww! Well, if there's anything we can help with to make Oikawa-kun's games or practices any better, please let us know!" one of them said, excited.

"Yeah!" the other one said, a little too cheerfully, staring at Haruko all starry-eyed.

"Oh! Okay, I'll let you know if we need any help at all. Always good to have some extra hands on deck. But… if you don't mind me asking, why haven't either of you applied to the manager position? When I was submitting my application, they said I was the only one..." Haruko wondered.

The two girls looked at each other, and one of them spoke. "To be honest I'm really not that into volleyball? Or being a manager?" The other girl was nodding as she spoke. "I mean, yeah it would mean getting to be around Oikawa-kun more, but we know how seriously he takes volleyball so… wouldn't it be kind of selfish to join just to be around him?"

Ouch. Right on target.

"Haha yeah. You're… completely right." Haruko said, trying her best to keep a smile on her face.

_How are his fangirls so respectful oh my god, I am literally worse than a fangirl. Officially._

"Plus, we're happy he has someone to look after him and his team! I'm sure he appreciates it too."

_Please stop talking, you're both way too nice and I really want someone to knock me out right now._

"Th-thank you. Both of you... I'll do my best to-"

"Now, now – who's bothering our precious manager-chan?"

Haruko felt a pair of hands on her shoulders and and jumped slighly - before she could even recognize the voice behind her, she saw the girls giggle and wave goodbye to her and the man behind her.

Oikawa let go and went a little bit ahead of Haruko, waving the girls goodbye as they were running off.

"Sorry if I startled you, Ike-chan, and sorry about the girls bothering you." he sighed, then looked back to where they ran off, "They're all really lovely people, but they can be a bit much sometimes." He lifted his hand behind his head.

"Oh!" it took a while for Haruko to come back to her senses, "That's okay! They were actually super nice and respectful and all. It's no big deal." she said, shaking her head. He couldn't have just come here to spook them off, right?

"I'm glad! So!" he clapped his hands together and smiled, "Would you like to come play laser tag?"

"…..Eh?" she stood there a little confused.

_Laser tag? With Oikawa? Why is he asking me to go with him to-_

"Oh, well, me and the guys-"

_The guys. Right. Of course. All of us together. I am a stupid idiot._

"-usually do something for the newbies. Me and Iwa-chan at least, we would always go do something fun with the new people on the team when I was in high school, and since we haven't had the chance to do anything yet this year, we figured we would wait a little until more people joined so we could all go together, manager-chan included!"

Oikawa pointed both of his index fingers at her. He looked so excited, there was probably no one on the planet able to say no to him when he was like that.

"Sure!" she said, smiling, "Laser tag is a pretty specific choice though - why?"

"It's finally my pick this year. Used to be paint ball most of the time but…" he looked to the side and squinted, "Every time we would go, instead of playing like normal human beings most people would just chase  _me_  down. Especially Iwa-chan. I still remember the bruises I had after he pinned me down and shot about a dozen of close-up paintballs at me."

He seemed to be really concerned by that memory but Haruko couldn't help herself - she started snickering at the story, wondering what on earth he did to deserve that.

"Glad you're enjoying my traumatic past," he continued, chuckling - it was a pretty entertaining memory, after all, "but I have to get going. I need to put my things away and change, we'll all meet up at the gates at around seven, I'll see you then?"

"Mhm! I'll do the same." Haruko nodded, heading towards her bike once again, "See you Oikawa-san!"

With that Oikawa waved and was on his way, and she was about to be as well. She got on her bike and was about to start pedaling home, but her legs didn't seem to move at first.

_I want to ask myself why I'm feeling like this but god damnit I perfectly know why. They're all being super nice to me and I am an absolute selfish bitch._

She looked down on her bike.

_Maybe this was all a horrible idea after all… But what am I supposed to do now, tell them oh hey guys, sorry but I'm gonna quit on day two because I only joined to get with your captain and now I feel bad, bye?_

She sighed.

_What have I gotten myself into…_

Haruko took a deep breath and started riding home, memories of today's unexpected friends she made still with her.

* * *

 **A/N:**  Don't worry! They'll be at each other's throats soon enough and it's gonna be super fun! :D

There's absolutely no way I'm going to bombard you with random names for every single team member, I'm here for the Oikawa trash and so are you, Maki or whatever his name was is literally just a filler character that has to be here to make them team look more full, so is the coach haha. Actually, yknow what, every single team member is gonna be named Maki now. They're all brothers. The entire team except Oikawa and Iwaizumi. All of them are Maki.

Also: respectful fangirls give me life. Protect them.

Haruko is her first name btw! But still feel free to treat this as a reader fic and replace that.

Also x2: the school year in my universe starts in september but only because I forgot that's not a thing in Japan whoops. I also have no idea if clubs are only a school thing, or if they also exist in university/college. Either way, they do in my universe! :D I do apologize if this is a mess of cultures, I'm still experiencing culture shock after I moved to the UK. I am literally an eastern european who is still adapting to western culture, and is trying to write about.. Japan. The struggle is real, lads.

 

Reviews would be super helpful btw because I haven't written anything in 9-10 years and I am rusty af! Thank you!

 **June 11th 2018 edit:** gave this chapter a fresh coat of paint! Just minor edits, really - the story is all the same, just sounds a little more natural and less.. cringey now. I revisited the first few chapters after a long hiatus and there's a massive contrast now that I've gotten into it seventeen chapters later. And this is the landing page for my story, after all! It's gotta look good, noone wants some shitty "I promise it gets better" excuse lol.


	2. Chapter 2

**98 percent**

**Chapter 2**

When Haruko got back to the university's gates, a few people were already there.

"Heeeey guys!" she greeted them. Maki was there, as well as two more guys from the team. She pretended she totally remembers their names. Yep. Totally.

"Yooo, Ikeda-san!" Maki greeted, "We're still waiting on Iwaizumi and Oiks." he said as she approached them. "Fashionably late as always."

"Well they're on their way for sure," another one said,  _seriously WHAT is his name_ , looking at his phone and then turning it to the rest of the team, "looks like Oikawa already forced Iwa into taking a selfie right after they met up, he just posted it."

Haruko couldn't help but chuckle at how unsatisfied Iwaizumi looked in that picture.

"The man is an absolute Instagram-whore." Maki added.

"Dude, so are you?"

"No I'm not!"

"I  _literally_  saw you take a selfie like 5 minutes ago."

Haruko shook her head at them, smiling. Boys. Their bickering seemed to make time fly by – Iwaizumi and Oikawa showed up soon after.

"Heeeey assholes!" Maki yelled out to them as they were approaching.

Oikawa put his hand next to his mouth and yelled back, "Takes one to know one Maki-chan!" and with that Maki shut up, grunting.

Haruko eyed Oikawa as he and Iwaizumi were walking towards them. He was wearing his glasses again, as well as a grey hoodie with NASA's logo on it.  _Haha nerd._

"Sorry we're late," Iwaizumi started when they finally met up, "Shittykawa here needed some likes to stroke his ego."

"Hey! You're in the picture too!" he pouted.

"Didn't ask to be. I literally _never_ ask to be." Iwa gave him a quick glare. "You all ready to go?" he asked, turning back to the group.

With a nod, they were on their way.

* * *

The journey to the entertainment complex was not prolonged. If anything, it was fun listening to Oikawa and Iwaizumi argue over "is a hotdog a sandwich", which took up pretty much the entire journey. The two seemed to be the backbone of the entire group, and the whole team really.

"Say, where are the rest of the guys anyway?" Haruko asked, as many of the volley-boys were missing.

"Couldn't make it. I think most of them had work this evening, Shiro-chan had to help his dad with his store, and Kenta-chan wasn't feeling well." Oikawa said. Haruko had no idea who those people were. "Their loss!"

"Not everyone gets to be a freeloader like you, Trashykawa." Iwaizumi spoke, "Only reason I gave up my evening shift today was because I want to kick your ass."

"At laser tag? You actually think you'll be able to-"

"No, I meant in general."

"Aww you don't actually mean that, Iwa-chaaan!" Oikawa threw his arm over Iwa's shoulder.

Iwaizumi gave him a glare and threatened him with his fist, after which Oikawa immediately jumped back from him raising his hands in defense, grinning at the other boy.

_Yep. Those two are absolutely inseparable._

* * *

The entertainment complex was huge. Following their agenda, their first visit was to the laser tag building. Luckily, they had just enough people to split into teams of three – Haruko ended up with Oikawa and guy number one,  _oh my god, what on earth is his name?,_  while Iwaizumi, Maki and guy number two were on the other.

After they were given silly laser tag vests and guns, the teams were sent to two different parts of the play area. Their feet on the starting line, both teams were ready to kick some ass.

"3, 2, 1… GO!" the robotic countdown went off and they all split up in the laser tag maze.

It was quite a big area and Haruko tried to stick to the walls in case she runs into any enemies.  _Maybe we should have stuck together…_  she thought, trying not to be the first one eliminated.

After a minute of sneaking around, she heard her gun do a slight beep. She looked at the tiny LCD screen on the side of it and noticed that one of her teammates was down.

_Ah crap… So that was either Oikawa or the other guy… I really gotta go do some damage. But where is everyone?.._

She kept going on for a little longer, and as she turned a corner she gasped. "Shit!"

Maki was a few meters away from her and already had his laser gun raised at her, but as he was about to pull his trigger his vest went red – someone else got to him first.

"Aw WHAT! Ugh!" he groaned throwing his arms up in the air and started making his way out of the maze.

Haruko was staring at him for a while and then looked around – no one was there and while she did manage to point at Maki, she never managed to pull the trigger in time. So who..?

"Yo-hoo, Ike-chan!" came a loud whisper from above her. Haruko looked up to find Oikawa on one of the walls, laying down, sniping people from above. He smiled and gave her a victory sign.

"Woah hey thanks! How'd you get up there?" she asked him, trying not to be too noisy. He didn't say anything, just pointed to the side of the wall he was on. Haruko went around the corner he pointed behind to find some very poorly lit stairs leading up.

"Ah man I love it when they do these secret area things!" she said, going up, "I feel like I'm in a video game."

"Shh! Come here and get down, I think see someone nearby!" he told her, scooting a bit to the side. She laid down on her stomach, elbows supporting her front. Both of them were snickering like children.

"I think it's Daiki…" Oikawa said as he came into view a little more.

_Daiki. Right. Daiki is his name. I am going to forget this in 5 minutes aren't I?_

They kept quiet for a bit, as difficult as it was not to snicker as Daiki was approaching. When he was close enough, Oikawa and Haruko released all hell loose.

Needless to say Daiki got eliminated before he even realized what happened. "OI! That's cheating you little shits!" he said to them when he finally realized where the lasers came from.

"It ain't cheating if it's in the game! Out you go Daiki-chan!" Oikawa teased, waving him goodbye. Grunting, Daiki started to head towards the exit.

Laughing, the two turned to each other and high-fived. "One more to go! Nice doing business with you, manager-chan!"

"Right back at you, captain-chan." Haruko teased, making Oikawa chuckle.

The guy seemed to be having the time of his life, and such honest, innocent and sweet laughs from him made Haruko smile. For a moment, she remembered why she was originally there. She almost started to overthink her original intents again, getting herself upset over her actions.

But before she could even begin to do that, all of a sudden she saw Oikawa's vest go red, followed by her own less than a second later.

"EH?" they exclaimed at the same time, looked at each other and then quickly turned to see the culprit behind them.

"What's up, losers?"

Iwaizumi, standing behind them on the very same stairs they used to get up there in the first place, slung his laser gun over his shoulder and gave them a victorious smirk.

"OH COME ON." the two yelled in defeat.

* * *

"Aaaargh and it was going so well too!" Oikawa whined as the group was walking towards the exit.

"Not well enough apparently." Iwa said, smirking at him. He wasn't one to boast about victory, but you could still tell he was proud of taking the other team out.

"Ohoho, we're not done! I'm not about to lose to you that easily, Iwa-chan."

"You already did though."

Oikawa stopped, looked back at him as well as the group, and pointed at the nearby arcade building.

"Man are you serious? It's like 9pm, we have classes in the morning and we still gotta get back home." Daiki whined.

"They're open until 11 on Thursdays though." Oikawa protested and was swiftly on his way leaving the rest of the group behind.

"I didn't mean-.. aaand he's gone. Ugh. You guys gonna stay? I think I'm gonna head back." Daiki sighed.

"I don't have class in the morning so I think I can hang around still." Haruko said turning to the other two boys for their opinions.

"I think I'm heading out with Daiki. We have class together tomorrow actually."  _Damnit, WHAT is this dude's name?.._

"Alright," Iwaizumi spoke, "I should look after that child anyway so I'm gonna stay behind. I'll see you tomorrow."

They waved their goodbyes and split up, leaving Iwaizumi and Haruko to catch up with Oikawa who was well on his way to the arcade building.

* * *

"No."

"Pleaaaaaaaase!"

"NO."

"Come on, what, you scared I'm going to beat you? Coward! Chicken!"

"No, I'm just smart enough not to go into a battle I know I can't win."

Oikawa really did try his best to get Iwaizumi to play a game with him. A game he's good at.

"Not only that," Iwa continued, "I'm not about to look like a dweeb playing this."

It was Dance Dance Revolution.

"Hhhhhhh," Oikawa then swiftly turned to Haruko and put his hands on her shoulders, "Ike-chan! Let's go!"

"EH?" she said widening her eyes, surprised by his lightning movement. "I mean, I guess I could try..?" she could see Iwaizumi behind Oikawa, shaking his head and mouthing "don't do it" silently.

But she felt cornered and had already agreed, so Oikawa was on his way to shove his money into the DDR machine and select a two player game. Iwa took the responsibility of holding their things and before Haruko could step on her side, she felt him pat her back.

"Rest in pieces, Ikeda-san."

With that, he stood back a bit to watch them play and Oikawa started picking a song. He found what he was looking for quite quickly.

"Wait, expert difficulty?" she asked when she saw his pick, "Are you sure? I thought these are like, super hard to keep up with?"

Oikawa turned to her with the most devilish smile she has ever seen, which took her off guard.

"What," he started, "you're a chicken-chan, too?"

She narrowed her eyes.

Oikawa had this...aura around him, which made Haruko unable to deny a challenge like that. It's like the only thing driving her at that moment was the desire to beat him at his own game. She couldn't explain it, but she  _had_  to play.

Besides, he can't possibly be  _that_  good.

"You're on."

* * *

He was  _that_ good.

"You've got to be joking." she said, panting and holding onto her knees, staring at the results on the screen.

With a ridiculous "Perfect!" streak and a score of about triple than what Haruko got, Oikawa was standing tall, being satisfied with himself, grinning at Haruko. He had both the stamina and dexterity of an athlete and that was a completely unfair advantage. That was her reasoning for losing, anyway, and not the fact that she sucked at rhythm games.

"Alright dweebs, you ready to go home yet?" Iwaizumi said, handing their things back to them as they stepped off the DDR machine.

"Yeees pleaaaase," Haruko, still catching her breath, said, "I forgot how tiring DDR is, jeez."

They started heading towards the exit, small talk in place, but their plan to leave foiled again by Oikawa's very long gasp. Iwaizumi sighed, giving off a "what now" aura and they both turned to the direction the gasp came from.

Oikawa has his hands and face squished to a claw machine nearby. When the other two came over to see what the fuss is about, he pointed at the alien head pillow behind the glass.

"I  _want_  it."

"Trashykawa, you literally do  _not_  need that." Iwa said, trying to pull him away by his hoodie, but failing. Oikawa didn't budge. Iwa groaned. "You're not even good at these! And besides, they're rigged!"

"Hmm… While true for most claw machines, this one shouldn't be." Haruko started, making both guys turn to her. She pointed at the claw behind the glass, "It's a three-claw. Not a two-claw. They're usually pretty okay as long as the prizes aren't too heavy. And if you ask me, that pillow doesn't look heavy at all."

Oikawa gave Iwaizumi a "you see!" look, while Iwaizumi whispered, shaking his head, "please don't encourage him." Oikawa started digging in his pockets, only finding a single coin left. He had one shot.

"Got any other tips claw-machine-senpai?" he turned to Haruko.

She chuckled at the nickname, which was probably the 7th one he'd given her in the span of just two days, "Well, my mom used to be really good at these… She always told me to make sure the claw completely stops shaking between movements. That's all I've got." she shrugged.

He nodded and threw the coin in.

The concentration on his face was almost comical. Somehow, his concentration dragged Haruko in too, making her feel second-hand nervousness. About some stupid alien pillow.

Steady, steaaaady.

"Wow, you actually picked it up-" Iwa began as the pillow began rising, but was abruptly cut off by a "Shh!" from the other two.

The atmosphere was intense, and Iwaizumi couldn't believe that his friend finally had someone to humour him.

The claw was moving slowly towards the prize drop, wobbling a lot more than they would prefer. Oikawa had his hands put together and pressed to his lips, it was questionable if he was breathing at all.

Then, right before reaching the prize drop, the alien pillow escaped from the claw and fell back into the prize pile.

"OH COME ON!" the two yelled in unison again, as Iwaizumi burst into laughing behind them.

* * *

The trio were heading home and when they finally reached the university's gates again to split up, it was quite late.

"You sure you don't want us to walk you home?" Iwa asked Haruko as they were about to leave.

"No, no, I'll be fine, I live like 10 minutes from here. Besides, I walk home from work at worse times on the weekends so I'm kind of used to this."

"See? Told you you're the only freeloader on the team." Iwaizumi teased Oikawa, making him roll his eyes. "We'll see you tomorrow then."

"Byeee Ike-chaaan! It's been fun!"

Haruko waved goodbye to them and went on her way. It was true, she lived really close to the university, and for the rent she was paying for it was an absolute bargain. Her apartment was tiny, but it was enough.

She looked up at the night's sky while going home. Today she had an absolute blast. It's been a while since she felt so part of a group of friends, especially ones who, just after a few days, treated her like family.

 _So... I guess my original intentions may have been unfair to them_. she thought,  _All of them, especially Oikawa, when I think about it. He does seem to really care about his team, his friends, even though he won't show it blatantly. But I don't regret joining them. I definitely regret my original intentions, though, but I think I can make up for those by doing what I do best._

She stopped for a moment, still looking up.

_Being helpful._

* * *

**AN:**  Oh, heavily dialogue-based this one! I just wanna throw them both into a spiral of emotions already but I gotta build it up ya know. Also updates will probably become slower as university starts soon. Plus, that new story hype won't last forever haha, but I do want to finish it! Hope you like it, once again, reviews and suggestions would be very helpful.


	3. Chapter 3

**98 percent**

**Chapter 3**

When Haruko came home, she made herself some tea, sat down at her desk and opened her laptop. She lived in a convenient little apartment – it was small, but had two floors. Well, half of a second floor, her desk was directly below an indoor-balcony type of bedroom. She had a tiny kitchen connected to the bathroom that was right by the stairs leading up to her bed. Bed was an overstatement too – it was literally just a mattress on the floor. All that said, she was happy with it anyway – it gave her a chance to move out of her parents' home, it was close to the university, and because it was so cramped the rent was low, too. She put up some fairy lights to hang down from her bed _room_ , which made things much cozier. Fairy lights just make everything better, you know?

_Right-o. Let's see what we have so far._

She turned on some music, (which she had downloaded 100% legally, for sure) opened up her cloud storage and found her volleyball notes file. She was taking notes on her tablet during practice about things coach Mukai was telling her about – the rules, her duties, what's the current situation on things like tournaments, finances, equipment and so on. If she was going to take this seriously, now was a good time to start.

The biggest problem the volleyball club had at the moment was money. The university funding was minimal – so minimal that when equipment would break down the coach and adviser would have to chip in to replace it. Which means that the university is pretty much out of the picture when it came to money problems.

The club had already scheduled a practice match with Noshiro – a college northwest of Miyagi – in two weeks, and coach Mukai mentioned that currently they're trying to raise funds for the travel expenses. There was no bullet train in between the two cities, meaning renting a bus was their only option.

Haruko kept going on with her research until late night – at around three in the morning she finally decided to leave it for the next day.

 _It's not all that bad of a sum to raise…_  she thought, yawning,  _as long as you'd have the people to help._   _But the volley-boys need to practice so we'll need someone else's help…_

She closed her laptop and went upstairs. Once she changed and threw her clothes into the nearby laundry basket, she figured she should go to bed.

A moment of pondering later Haruko went back downstairs to play video games.

* * *

_Eughhhh I really need to get my sleep schedule under control…_

Haruko was happy to find a single energy drink left in her fridge this morning. The rain didn't help though – not only did it make her even sleepier, it also meant she has to walk to university instead of taking her bike, which would normally wake her up a bit. Haruko didn't have class until the afternoon on Fridays, but she found it difficult to wake up nevertheless, considering she went to sleep at 7.30am.

She folded her umbrella up as she entered the main building of the university. With 10 minutes left until class, she was in no rush to get there. As she was heading towards the lecture theatre, she heard a few familiar voices. Oikawa was leaning on the windowsill talking to the two girls she met the other day. He was eating something. Something that looked very appetizing to the breakfast-less Haruko.

 _They're persistent, the girls. Not that I can blame them._ Haruko smiled.

"Oh! Manager-chan!" to her surprise, the callout didn't come from Oikawa but from one of the girls instead, who waved to her. Haruko reasoned they must have picked that nickname up from Oikawa.

"Heeey." she greeted no one in particular, approaching them, yawning.

"Whoa, you look like a bit of a mess Ike-chan." Oikawa said.

"Good morning to you too, captain." Haruko grunted, before realizing his voice was more worried than insulting. She took a sip of her energy drink and eyed the small box of… buns? Cinnamon rolls? Whatever those were, sitting on the windowsill between Oikawa and the girls. "Smart move, bringing breakfast." she approved.

"It's… it's almost 1pm, Ike-chan." Haruko gave Oikawa a  _"don't."_ look and shook her head. She really wasn't a morning person, no matter how late in the afternoon her morning was. "Heh, either way, this wasn't my idea," he munched on the bun he had in his hand, "the girls brought them over."

"Oh! Please, try some!" one of them said, handing the box over to Haruko. Their niceness took her off guard again; these girls were like cinnamon rolls themselves.

Haruko took a bite out of her newly acquired bun – no, it was definitely a cinnamon roll – and let out a small "mm!" of approval. She turned to the girls once again.

"Did yhou ghys", she swallowed her bite, "sorry – did you guys make these?"

"Yup!"

"We're from the baking club!"

They seemed to have a habit of finishing each other's sentences.  _Baking club? That's a thing?_

Haruko looked at her cinnamon roll. Then at the box. Then at girls and back at her bun again. Idea.

"Oh my god," she started, looking back at the girl who offered her the roll, "Give me your number."

She was taken aback a bit and gave Haruko a sheepish smile, "I-what? Uhm… I'm flattered but I'm not really-"

"What, no, no," Haruko shook her head, taking her phone out, "you wanted to help out the volleyball boys yeah?" she pointed at Oikawa.

"Wha…" Oikawa went, completely lost in how the conversation even got to this point. But Haruko was already typing the girl's number into her phone.

"I'll message you and explain later, I gotta go to class now, but I have an idea." she immediately started walking away leaving the confused trio behind her. Still munching on the roll, she put her phone back into her pocket and noticed Oikawa catch up with her.

"Wait uuuup, Ike-chan," he said, "I have no clue what that was about, buuuut what I do know is that we have class together now. You have anyone sitting next to you?" he asked, turning to her.

Haruko shook her head, cinnamon roll in her mouth.  _Yes I do, but that guy is as bland as they get, he can find a new seat._

"Well you do now!" Oikawa said excitedly, "Iwa-chan isn't taking this class, it gets lonely up there."

Haruko gave him a thumbs up, trying her best to finish the cinnamon bun before class starts. She threw out her empty can of energy drink before she walked in and sat down, Oikawa following her and sitting down to her right.

_Now this definitely beats looking at him through my tablet screen. This is a good day._

The bland boy came in a minute later and looked a bit irritated after seeing that his seat was taken, but thankfully, didn't say anything and just found a seat towards the back – most likely Oikawa's old seat, as the class was fairly full.

She took out her tablet and tablet pen as their tutor walked in, ready to  _try_  and process what he's saying. For Haruko it was still way too early to be studying.

* * *

"What did you  _do_  last night?" Oikawa whispered to Haruko halfway into the class, noticing that she's barely capable of paying attention.

She rubbed her eyes, "Video games. Usually I wouldn't crash like this, I think I'm just a bit overwhelmed with all the extra work lately."

"How so?"

"Well, I was just working Friday and Sunday nights during the summer… And now I have to study, work, and that gets topped off with manager duties for the club. It's just a few weeks into the first semester and I already want to knock myself out."

Oikawa chuckled. "Living the student life, huh?"

"Easy for you to say,  _freeloader-chan_." she teased, smirking at him.

"Hey, that wasn't my decision!" Oikawa said a little too loudly, earning a "shh!" from the back. He then went back to whispering, "My folks thought I won't be able to handle studying, sports  _and_  a job. They insisted to pay for my expenses until I graduate." he shrugged, "Not that I'm complaining."

Haruko stretched, her sleepiness going away bit by bit as the day went on. "I'd kill for that."

"You sure joining our club was a good idea? Don't get me wrong, it's great having you around, but you seem to have a lot on your hands." he asked.

"Ah, well, I have my... reasons." she wanted to snarl at her own comment, "Besides, I don't have any regrets so far. Made some good friends, you know? You guys are fun."

He smiled, "I know I'm going to sound like Iwa-chan when I say this, but don't overwork yourself."

Oikawa went back to taking notes after that and the two sat in silence, their attention drawn back to the lecture.

Haruko leaned back on her chair. She meant what she had said, she really did make good friends. She glanced over at Oikawa.

_As nice as this is, it's as far as I can go. He's unbelievably cute but I really can't pursue anything more, it would be unfair to everyone else… And most importantly to him._

She looked back to her notes.

_He doesn't deserve to be treated like some boy-toy. He's a good guy._

* * *

Oikawa and Haruko split up after class - she told him she needs to take care of something before she joins everyone in practice. He, on the other hand, headed straight there, wondering what she's up to. Their new manager was a bit of a mystery to him, but she seemed to be keen on helping them out, and that was more than enough.  _Besides, she's fun to hang out with._

He was the first one to show up at the gym, which was his daily ritual. He liked to practice on his own for a while before anyone else would show up – even though Iwaizumi would give him a hard time about overdoing it. But with no one there it was easy for him to practice jump-serves, so he reasoned that it's worth listening to Iwa complain in exchange for it.

Oikawa took a deep breath every time he would do a serve. Most of the time during the day his mind would constantly be buried under thoughts about everything ever – volleyball, studies, space, food, memories, worries and so on. But this was the one time when his mind would be completely blank, and it was so refreshing.

After about a half an hour the rest of the guys started showing up, as well as the coach, but Haruko was nowhere to be seen, still. The team decided to do some 3 on 3 matches once enough people gathered.

As the boys were busy playing, Haruko finally showed up about 15 minutes later. Oikawa only noticed her as she was already talking to the coach about something.

He kept eyeing the conversation for a while. Coach Mukai seemed to be delighted with whatever she had told him, and a while later she turned around to Oikawa and pointed straight at him, after which they both laughed. Oikawa squinted at the two, trying to figure out what the hell is going on behind his back, forgetting for a moment where he was – his distraction was rewarded with a ball landing on his head.

"Oi, Trashykawa!" Iwaizumi called out to him, "You keep that up I'll bench you myself."

He shook his head and directed his attention back to the game.

* * *

After practice most people decided to go home, whoever didn't was invited for drinks at Oikawa's. It was Friday, after all.

"You coming, Ike-chan?" he asked her as she was about to leave.

"You have no idea how happy I would be if I could," she started, "but I have to work tonight. I haven't had a free Friday for moooonths." she whined.

"That's a shame. Where  _do_  you work anyway?" Iwa asked.

"The Old House. It's a bar not far from here, come by sometime!" she said, waving goodbye to them. "Have fun you guys!"

They wished Haruko a good weekend and she was on her way. A minute or two into her walk home, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She got a message.

* * *

_From: Oikawa_

_To: Haruko_

_Hey, what was that whole thing with the coach about btw? :o Pointing and laughing is rude, Ike-chan. :P_

* * *

Haruko smiled and wondered where he got her number. Probably the same place she got his and everyone else's – coach Mukai.

* * *

_To: Oikawa_

_From: Haruko_

_Sorry! You'll find out on Monday._

* * *

_From: Oikawa_

_To: Haruko_

_! ! ! :o_

* * *

**AN:**

me: sees two reviews

me: aggressively opens microsoft word

Seriously though thank you guys! Your kind words keep me going, I really hope you like it so far! Please let me know anything I should improve on, too! I feel like this chapter was a bit OC heavy, I'll try to tone it down – I know ya'll are here for Oiks and so am I haha.

Yay they're friends! Enjoy that while you can, that won't last long.

New chapter new cover - been drawing Oiks a lot. Wish I could just do a gallery, FF really needs to step their game up.


	4. Chapter 4

**98 percent**

**Chapter 4**

When Haruko came home from her way too long of a shift it was already 3am. Closing shifts were Haruko's nemesis, but she did what she had to do – rent wasn't going to pay itself. She got a text from Oikawa soon after she came home, inviting her to join them if she still has the energy, but she turned him down – Haruko was glad the boys were having fun but the only thing on her mind now was sleep.

Oikawa's text were, to put it lightly, a mess at this point. She was sure they've all had  _at least_  one drink too much, and figured it would be fun to see the guys at their worst. Haruko chuckled at the thought and texted Oikawa back telling him she will try to make it next time – provided she doesn't have to work.

Haruko had a long Saturday ahead of her so she got ready for bed, but then got one last text from Oikawa before going to sleep. After that Haruko was sure they're bound to show up at the bar she works in one day or another. Silly boys.

* * *

  _From: Oikawa_

_To: Haruko_

_We;ll bring th party to u thennn ! !_

* * *

 The weekend was full of work, both money-related work and volleyball-related work for Haruko. But once Monday came, she was sure it was worth wasting her one day off preparing.

Not like she was the one doing most of the work, anyway.

After her morning lecture Haruko made her way downstairs to see how things were going – it was lunch time, which means the girls should have finished setting up by now. Once she reached the main lobby, she was thrilled.

A giant banner with the words "Bake Sale" was hanging behind a large table full of baked goods – the two girls she met before, as well as a few others, were busy at work. Haruko figured there would be plenty of hungover, starving students today, but she didn't expect the university's staff to be there too – the baking club sure knew what they were doing. Luckily for Haruko, they were easy to convince to do this, seeing as most of them were Oikawa's fangirls.

Haruko weaseled through the fairly big crowd and went behind the table to talk to the girls.

"Hey! How are things?" she asked Emi, one of the girls she had originally met. Her friend Fumi was nearby dealing with students. The only reason Haruko remembered their names was because they matched. Emi and Fumi.  _They should date each other_ , she thought.

"Manager-chan!" Honestly, out of all the things, why did she have to pick up on that nickname? "Everything is going way better than we thought! The office apparently sent out an email to all the students about the bake sale, we've sold out on a few things so we took some orders for tomorrow."

She was like a little bakery-dealer.

"At this rate," Fumi said from the back, "we'll be done in no time!"

* * *

 Oikawa wasn't one to miss out on a bake sale – especially when there was a chance for fresh milk bread to be there. He didn't have class until after lunch, but made his way to university sooner than usual, making sure he doesn't miss it.

"Ya-hoo, Iwa-chan!" he waved at Iwa meeting up with him at the gates. Iwaizumi gave him a slight nod and they headed towards the main building.

"So why'd you want to come in early anyway?" he asked, turning to Oikawa.

"Didn't you get the email yesterday?" Oikawa raised his eyebrow, "There's a bake sale, apparently."

"Seriously?" he squinted, "We literally could have just gone to the bakery down the street."

"But they always have the same stuff!"

"And the baking club doesn't? Haven't those girls fed you every recipe they have by now?" Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.

* * *

 Haruko waved to the two boys who we're trying to make their way through the crowd – one of them more eagerly than the other. Really, the lobby was way too small for a university this size.

"Heeeey!"

Oikawa looked up, surprised to see Haruko behind the table. "Ike-chan? Are you cheating on us with the baking club?" he teased.

She laughed. Before she could answer, Iwaizumi poked him and after getting his attention, pointed up at the bake sale banner. Oikawa squinted, trying to read the text underneath.

"All profits go to the Shokey Gakuin VBC… Ah!" he exclaimed, turning back to Haruko, "You did this?"

Haruko put her hand behind her head, "Well, I only organized it. The girls did all the work." she said, looking their way. "They were… easy to convince. Hey girls!"

They turned to Haruko.

"Look who's here." she pointed at Oikawa, her actions followed by giggles and blushes from the girls. She chuckled, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Iwaizumi joined her in being entertained by Oikawa's dumbfounded face.

"You're kidding…" he said after they turned their attention back to the hungry students.

"Not at all. Once they heard the volleyball club needs help they agreed with no questions asked. Your charm is really coming in handy." she teased, blushing slightly after realizing what she had just said. "Um. You might want to get in the queue before there's nothing left. No cuts, even if you're from the club!"

She reached over the table and spun Oikawa around, then lightly pushed him towards the end of the queue, Iwaizumi laughing and following his friend. Haruko then decided to help the girls deal with the starving students.

What Haruko said, though, didn't go unnoticed by Oikawa. He was definitely entertained by the fact that she found him charming. Sure, she could have meant that the baking club girls found him charming, but he would much rather go with the first option.

* * *

 "I'm super sorry but I have class now, you all good to pack up?" Haruko asked Emi. She was standing in front of the table now, together with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, whom she had class with Monday afternoons.

"Yeah we'll be fine! You go on ahead. We'll head over to the gym afterwards to let coach Mukai know how it went." Emi said, giving her a thumbs up.

As they were about to head out, Oikawa stopped her and Iwa. "Hold on!"

He took his phone out. "No event happened if there's no selfie to prove it!"

Haruko chuckled. Of course he would. Before she could even protest, he threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in, lifting his phone up and shouting out to the girls behind him to make a pose. He made sure the banner was in the picture too.

"Iwa-chan, come here, I don't have a third arm to force you this time."

Iwaizumi groaned, but decided to humor his friend today. He stood behind them, making the most half-assed peace sign imaginable.

The entire time Oikawa was trying to compose his work-of-art selfie, he had Haruko close to him.

_Why am I nervous. We are friends. This is what friends do. My GOD he smells good._

She flinched slightly at her last thought, but, thankfully, Oikawa was too busy with the selfie to notice. She smiled at the camera.

* * *

 "Hey, what's your Instagram?" he asked Haruko as they were walking to class, "I'll tag you."

Oikawa handed his phone to her.

Haruko gave herself a moment to think – not to remember her username, but to figure out if she has anything embarrassing on there.  _Hope not._

She took his phone and typed in her username, then gave it back, noting the cute space case he had. The man really liked space.

The trio split up as they went into the lecture theatre, Iwaizumi and Oikawa apparently had seats a few rows behind her. As the lecture began, Haruko found herself being distracted by her phone.

She made sure to follow Oikawa back on Instagram, and found Iwaizumi through him as well.

The two were so much like night and day, it was incredible.

Oikawa was posting selfies pretty much every day, if not several times per day. Every one of them had a near perfect angle, a filter and sometimes some hearts or stars drawn on them. Oikawa seemed to do a peace sign as a natural reflex at this point. There were plenty of selfies with Iwaizumi and a few with the other volley-boys, the newest one being the one he took today. There were also plenty of pictures of them, to put it blatantly, doing stupid shit. She snorted at a picture of him and the team stealing a traffic sign.

He had a few thousand followers.

Iwaizumi's account, on the other hand, was barely ever updated. He only seemed to work up the nerve to use it after a few drinks, as a lot of them were just pictures of Oikawa sleeping in awkward places. He had a total of one (1) selfie on his account, and that was what he used for his icon. Iwa had 23 followers.

Haruko went back to Oikawa's account to check out the picture he posted today.

"Three cheers for manager-chan and the baking club!", followed by 3 billion emojis and hashtags, was the description he put down. She smiled and took a screenshot.

It was a good photo.

She kept scrolling through his account for a while - he seemed to have it for years so there was plenty of content. Over the few years he just kept getting hotter – Haruko almost scolded herself for the thought, but then gave up, figuring she's only human. The man was eye-candy, nothing could be done about that. There was nothing wrong in finding someone attractive.

_Hm?_

Most of Oikawa's photos seemed to have a very visible flow to them, but at one point it seemed like they cut off. Haruko checked the dates below them – she was correct. There was about a half of a year of photos missing. She went into the photo right after the gap and it seemed like it was just another daily post, with nothing out of the ordinary. She figured there would be something in the comments between the lines of "where have you been", but there was nothing. Just regular comments.

_Did he delete them?_

Haruko wondered what could have happened. She wanted to ask, but shook her head – that would make things weird.

* * *

  **AN:**  Sorry this is a bit short! I've been avoiding being a responsible adult for a while as it is so I really need to do some work, but I also don't want to leave you guys empty handed so yeah. Love u! (also I wanted to call IG Binstagram to follow the bootleg culture hq has but whatever haha) (I loved that monster hunter OVA they had sm with the bootleg consoles, bootleg humor gives me life)


	5. Chapter 5

**98 percent**

**Chapter 5**

The next few months went by as if time didn't exist. Haruko was getting used to her weekly routine of university – volleyball club – work – university and things seemed to be going well. Sure, it was exhausting at first, but it was worth it. She enjoyed taking trips to practice matches with the team, even if it meant coming back way late in the evening when she had class next morning. Hanging out with the volley-boys and cheering them on was fun, and the guys really seemed to like her as well. It's been so long since she had such good company – Haruko's coworkers were nice, especially her manager, but this was different.

Things were good.

So, obviously, everything had to go to shit at some point.

* * *

On Thursdays, Haruko and Oikawa had just one class in the afternoons, which had a pretty chill lecture every time. So the two sat at the very back, in a corner, usually goofing off. Iwaizumi wasn't taking this class, so Oikawa invited Haruko to sit with him, and while she had no interest in this class in the first place, he was a terrible influence anyway.

They both admitted that they only took this class because it had easy credits, and both of them had enough work to worry about as it was. But she had never been this distracted before in any class, even this one.

Admittedly, Thursdays became Haruko's favorite days – Oikawa was a blast to be around. Every week they would have completely pointless conversations about how "sleeping is just a free trial of being dead every night" or lighter ones, like how "the best thing about takeaway is having leftover breakfast" or that damn, never-ending "is a hotdog a sandwich" discussion. He would complain that Iwa would barely ever humour him about "serious matters like this".

At this point in the year Haruko was pretty close to the whole team, but her friendship with Oikawa was on a whole different level.

They both got so comfortable around each other you would think they've known each other for years. Haruko let herself be more snarky around Oikawa, sarcasm being a good counter-measure for his flirty personality. And Oikawa let himself be… well, himself. He knew his advances or intimacy (the amount of selfies they were taking together was ridiculous) won't put her off or make things weird, and at the same time he knew she'll take him seriously in any other situation.

Oikawa considered her fairly shy at first, but once he got to know her, he found out that it's not the case at all. She was simply one of those people who didn't let just anyone waltz into her life.

One Thursday, after taking stupid selfies with his glasses and making an atrocious impression of him ("look at me, I'm captain-chan and I love volleyball so much I'm gonna marry it") Haruko asked:

"Say, how come you're the captain anyway, being a first year and all?"

"Ah," Oikawa began, putting his glasses back on, "The previous captain was a third year and the guys hadn't decided on a new one when this year began. Iwa-chan put in a good word for me, and apparently the coach vouched for me too since he remembered some of my high-school plays." he explained.

"Now that you mention it," Haruko said, "I remember hearing your name a few times back in high school. Somehow I didn't pinpoint you're the same person at first."

"Oh?" he raised his eyebrow, smirking at her. "And what'd you hear about me?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, it wasn't all positive." she chuckled at his disappointed face. "To be perfectly fair though, I barely remember what it was. Something about you being a good player, but mostly about you being full of yourself. Gotta admit it wasn't far off." Haruko teased.

"Rude, Ike-chan."

"Honestly, sometimes I doubt you even remember my full name."

"I do, but Ikeda-chan doesn't sound as nice."

He was right. It didn't. But she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of being right.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into each other before, if there was talk about me we definitely played your school." he continued.

"Oh, I didn't go to matches. Never really had any interest in volleyball. I was… too preoccupied with other things back then."

Oikawa felt like he hit a nerve, even if Haruko made it sound like she was just too busy studying. She obviously didn't want to talk about it, but his curiosity got the best of him.

"What school were you in, anyway?"

"Hm? Oh, Karasuno."

Oikawa was glad he wasn't drinking anything at that moment, or it would have went straight out.

"Um?" Haruko stared at him, questioning his obvious shock and wide eyes.

"I- Sorry! That was a little unexpected…"

"Okay? Why? You're being weird."

"Urgh," he made the most unsatisfied face a human being could make, "We had a… bad encounter with them."

That made Haruko wonder. "Don't tell me you're from Seijoh?"

He raised a brow, "…yeah?"

"Oh, damn, that makes sense then. You got your ass handed to you, didn't you? The whole school was talking about that."

Oikawa shot her a "can you not?" glare.

"Sorry, sorry!" she held her hands up in defense, "I'll admit that came out a bit harsh."

"Yeah, it did."

He seemed seriously annoyed.

"Um... If you don't mind me asking… What happened?" she asked in a much more serious tone - this was definitely something personal.

Oikawa sighed. He didn't exactly want to talk about it, but then again, he pushed her into talking about high school, which she obviously didn't want to talk about either.

He hesitated for a second, realizing that it's not in his nature to be fair. Not outside of volleyball games, at least. So why..?

He shook his head, "We lost a really important match against them. Probably the most important one we've had in high school. It wasn't an ugly loss or anything, everyone gave it their all and neither team was backing down point-wise. But in the end we lost, and the ball bounced off of  _my_  hands when it flew out of the court."

He sunk in his chair a bit and crossed his arms.

"For a really long time I kept telling myself I could have saved it. I imagine that's what most players do when it's their mistake that finishes the game. I know every point we score or lose belongs to the whole team, no single person is responsible, but… You can't just shake off that feeling of guilt like it's nothing."

Oikawa leaned his head back, his eyes focused on the lecture, but his mind completely elsewhere.

"It was our last official match. I was in my third year, so was Iwa-chan and a few others. In all our three years we didn't manage to go to nationals. Every time we would be brought down by Shiratorizawa, but this time we managed to get beaten by the underdog. No offense."

You didn't need to have interest in volleyball to know how good Shiratorizawa's team was. Haruko remembered her school celebrating their victory against them.

"We've beaten Karasuno before, so no one really expected us to lose, either. But when we played them again, they were a completely different team. It was scary how fast they were improving. I ended up going to their match with Shiratorizawa the next day – I wasn't exactly happy that they won, screw those guys, but… it did make me feel better. Somehow."

The two sat in silence for a little while.

"Sorry…" Haruko said, "Both about what happened and what I said, I didn't know it was so important."

Oikawa looked at her with the most innocent expression he could pull.

"Volleyball?  _Important_? To  _me_? Where could you have  _possibly_  gotten that idea?"

Haruko was taken aback by his sarcasm and snorted.  _Unbelievable… From zero to hero in moments._

"Fair point, captain-chan. I'm guessing you're banking your future on it?"

"Yeah." he said, turning back to the lecture which was coming to an end. "And if that doesn't work out at least I'll have a degree." he shrugged.

Oikawa seemed like he had his entire life figured out. It was admirable.

* * *

The volleyball club had claimed one of the cubicle lobby sofas and coffee tables as their own. Because there were quite a few people in the club, someone would almost always be there. Feeling lonely? Go to the volley-sofa.

That's exactly where Oikawa and Haruko headed after class. They had about an hour before practice, and while Oikawa would normally just go there early, he couldn't say no to free coffee, courtesy of Iwaizumi. Though, the entire team knew it was just his way of making Oikawa stop pushing himself. He was easy to bribe.

There weren't many people at their volley-sofa today, just Iwa and… Di.. Da.. Daiki!

_It's been months, Haruko, get your shit together._

They greeted the other two team members and plopped down. Oikawa was sitting like a normal person but Haruko was someone who liked to get comfortable, so she leaned back at one end of the cubicle sofa and threw her legs over Oikawa's lap.

A month ago, that would have been weird. Not anymore, though. And the best part was that it didn't look weird to anyone.

At first, Haruko expected there to be gossip about them, the manager and the captain, getting too friendly. But apparently the baking club was the heart of all the university's gossip – thanks to them, Haruko was known as simply "one of the guys".

She had to admit, it bothered her in a way. She knew damn well she was attractive, and being seen as a threat would have been flattering. Still, this was still the best outcome she could have ever hoped for.

Haruko started digging in her bag for her console to pass the time, as Daiki was working on his assignment, while Oikawa and Iwaizumi were talking about some volleyball stuff. Her digging became more frantic as time went by – sure, her bag was a mess, but she began to worry.

"Yo, you okay?" Iwa asked.

"Ghh… My PSP is missing…" she said, gritting her teeth, continuing to panic and search her bag.

"Just dump it all out on the sofa." Oikawa suggested. It wasn't a bad idea.

She flipped her bag upside down, a million of things falling out on her lap, going from textbooks to makeup. Out came her console, too.

"Oh thank god, I almost had a heart attack…" she exhaled.

"Damn, it's like a Bag of Holding." Daiki teased, looking at her pile of stuff, getting Haruko to roll her eyes at the Dungeons and Dragons reference.  _How is this nerd a regular on the team?_

Haruko put her PSP on the table and started shoving everything back into her bag. Once she was done, she could finally reward herself with some video games.

* * *

That is, for 20 minutes, tops.

Haruko stopped her game to check her phone that had just buzzed.

"Ugh you've got to be joking." she took her legs off Oikawa's lap and sat down normally, "Can you guys tell coach Mukai I can't make it today? One of my coworkers decided to go on an impromptu holiday. My manager is asking me to cover…"

"Aw whaaat."

She stood up, putting her console back into her bag (never to be seen again) and squeezed out of their little booth. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's gonna be fired. Our manager's super lenient but the moment you take advantage of that she does  _not_  think twice."

They waved their goodbyes and Haruko was off.

After a while the boys got up too to head to practice.

Oikawa had a habit of looking back to see if he had left anything behind. Usually there wouldn't be anything there, but today… there was. And it wasn't an item that belonged to him.

_Oh?_

* * *

Thankfully Haruko's shift was an easy one – not a lot of people drink on a Thursday evening, and it wasn't even a closing shift. It was dead all evening, Haruko counted a total of 5 drinks she made over the span of 6 hours. She got so used to weekend shifts, she had forgotten how relaxing her job can be.

Still having some energy left after work, Haruko sat down at her desk and started browsing on social media.

It gave her a good reminder why she doesn't spend much time on there apart from Instagram.

It's full of old friends. Old classmates.

_Blergh._

She closed her laptop and looked up at the fairy lights hanging above her.

New friends. New… colleagues.

Haruko turned back to her desk. A few months had passed since her last diary entry. She was great at keeping a diary back in middle school, but that changed as the years went by. It was time for an update.

_Especially after that last entry… yeesh._

Haruko made a disgusted face at herself. Sure, things worked out, but she still had a gross feeling in her gut for even thinking about being horrible to the people she can now proudly call her friends.

She was getting sleepy, but started looking around her desk, diary nowhere to be found. She then looked through her bag, thinking that maybe she took it to university, but it wasn't there either. She gave one last check around her bed and swiftly gave up, her bed inviting her.

_Eh, I'll do it tomorrow._

She flopped on her bed. Haruko didn't worry in the slightest about where her diary could have went.

She probably should have been worried.

Actually, she  _definitely_  should have been worried.

* * *

 **AN:**  *mario voice* here we GO-


	6. Chapter 6

**98 percent**

**Chapter 6**

It was raining again.

"Hey, what do you guys think about Ike-chan?"

"Is this another one of your existential discussions again about where we all belong in the universe, or is it a genuine question?"

"I think she's nice. She's been helping out a lot. Why?"

"Yeah she's great, we wouldn't have made it to practice matches without her."

"And she's super easy to talk to, she's really chill altogether. Been an MVP manager-wise too."

"Why?"

"Yeah, why, did something happen?"

"… Nah. It was more of an existential question anyway."

"Oh we are  _so_  not doing that discussion again."

"Yeah no way dude."

* * *

Haruko yawned and slumped into her seat. These Friday afternoon-only classes were really messing with her sleep schedule. It was always an excuse to stay up late playing video games.

She was in class a little earlier than expected, usually she would meet Oikawa somewhere on the way but he was nowhere to be found. She wondered if he had skipped class today.

"Ya-hoo, Ike-chan!"

_Think of the devil._

She turned to Oikawa who was walking up the stairs towards her. Haruko loved that grey NASA hoodie he had, it looked good on him, as nerdy as it was. He had his hand up waving to her, so she gave him a smile and small wave as well, eyes trailing towards what he had in the hand he was waving with.

She froze mid-wave, eyes wide.

A navy notebook with a pen strapped to it. Her diary.

_Oh HELL no._

Of  _course_  everything had to go to shit.

_No way. No WAY is this happening. Nothing in there even applies anymore! No no no no and it's the ONLY fucking entry in there! Uuurgh maybe I can explain? Maybe he didn't read it? Of course he read it, he's Oikawa fucking Tooru. Oh god, oh jeez, oh wow, now is about the time I'd like to descend into hell, or some different dimension, any dimension but this one, oh god I probably left it on the sofa yesterday when I emptied my bag, why did I even bring that thing to university? What is WRONG with me? This is-… wait... why is he acting normal?_

Haruko continued staring at her diary and swearing in her mind until Oikawa sat down next to her and handed the diary to her. "You left this behind yesterday."

Haruko looked down at it and slowly took it from his hand, trying her best not to shake while she does so, then looked back at him and raised her eyebrow.

"Jeez, Ike-chan, don't give me that look. I didn't read it."

She squinted.

"Alright, alright, I'll admit I tried. But for some ungodly reason you had to write everything in English. My English is so bad the only thing I understood was the word 'volleyball' and then I gave up. Honestly, it's hard enough to find things to tease you about, I was hoping for this to be a gold mine, but you've saved yourself." he chuckled.

Haruko closed her eyes is disbelief and she finally exhaled after holding her breath for the past 30 seconds.

_Are you fucking kidding me._

"When…" Haruko started, putting her diary away, still shaken up, "When I was in middle school, my English was really bad too, so my teacher told me to try keeping a diary in English and it really helped. I developed a habit to start a new one every school year since then." she explained.

_I'd thank her for it, if me having a diary in the first place wouldn't be her fault._

"Smart." Oikawa commented, taking out his notes.

Still, Haruko worried. No matter how bad his English was, he must have noticed his name somewhere, right? And the fact that he wasn't questioning anything in there AT ALL was getting to her. He could have easily translated it online as well, sure it was an extra step, but the Oikawa she knows had no respect for people's privacy, at least when it came to a chance to find out someone's secrets. He was a good friend, but he was also a nosy little shit. So why not now?

The worst part was that he was so incredibly hard to read. Especially when he's focusing on studying.

_Right, class. Focus._

Haruko took out her tablet and started taking notes on the lecture that had just started a moment ago. It was difficult, to say the least, to focus on the lecture after what had just happened. This whole event nearly gave her a heart attack. Haruko decided to slam-dunk her diary into a garbage bin later. Her English was top-notch at this point, there was no reason to keep it anymore, it was just a habit. A habit that almost screwed her over just now.

_Ugh, FOCUS._

She groaned quietly. They had exams coming up and she had no right to slack off or have her mind pre-occupied like this. Not in this class, at least.

Oikawa glanced over to her, hearing her grumbling. It was obvious that Haruko was having trouble keeping up with the lecture, frantically scribbling notes down with her tablet pen, constantly crossing things out, and spacing out every so often.

_That really did a number on you, huh?_  Oikawa thought, looking back at his notes.  _I wonder… Is there anything else about you that's fake? And just how much can you handle before you give up this whole ordeal?_

* * *

"You gotta join us for drinks this time, come on Ikeda-san!" Maki whined.

Another Friday, another disappointment.

"Don't tease her Maki, you know Ike-chan has work on Fridays." Oikawa said as the group was walking out of the campus after practice.

She couldn't help but notice that his tone was a bit dry. Not only that, he would usually be the one trying to convince her to swap shifts with someone. Haruko tried to convince herself it was exam stress. Or volleyball stress. Or any stress that had nothing to do with her.

"Yeah… I'll see you guys on Monday. Have a good weekend!" she said, waving goodbye and heading home without looking back. The rain had stopped, but it was still cold.

This day was too much.

* * *

Friday nights were hell at work, so when Haruko came home it felt heavenly to drop on her bed. She lazily took out her phone from her bag to check up on any notifications – the bar was too busy for her to be able to be on her phone, and she did have a habit of keeping her phone safely in her bag as she walked home at night.

_Oh jeez okay..?_

She tapped on the messenger notification. 278 new messages.

* * *

_Maki has added Ikeda to the conversation._

Maki: yooo

Daiki: yooooooooooo

Maki: Ikeda-san are you there

Maki: are you theeeeeeeere

Iwaizumi: shes at work you idiot

Maki: i'm boooooored tell Oiks to reconsider

Maki: Oiksssssss

Oikawa: no and wow don't call me that

_Maki had changed Oikawa's nickname to Oiks_

Oiks: Maki I swear 2 god

Daiki: no for real why you gotta leave us hanging like this

Oiks: I'm not feeling it today, go drink somewhere else

Daiki: youre having one of your moods again arent you

Daiki: Iwa is he having one of his moods

Iwaizumi: fuck if I know

Maki: you knowww no one else has the space to accommodate more than two (2) people except u

Oiks: so that gives you the right

Oiks: to invade the privacy of my home

Oiks: every goddamn Friday

Oiks: ? ? ? ?

Iwaizumi: will you ever learn to stop double-texting

Oiks: screw double texting

Oiks: I'll quadruple text u

Oiks: buzz buzz

Oiks: its me again

Iwaizumi: Maki make me an admin

_Maki has promoted Iwaizumi to Admin._

_Iwaizumi had changed Oiks's nickname to Shittykawa._

Shittykawa: Maki make me an admin

Maki: hell no lol

Shittykawa: wtf you made Iwa-chan an admin ? ?

Shittykawa: with no questions asked

Maki: yeah cause its Iwa

* * *

Haruko chuckled at their usual bickering and skimmed through the messages and cat pictures Daiki kept uploading to a more important part of the group chat.

* * *

Shittykawa: is anyone free tmrw morning?

Maki: why?

Shittykawa: new uniforms are coming in and someone has to be at uni to pick them up

Maki: why cant you do it ya freeloader, I have work

Daiki: yeah so do I

Iwaizumi: +1

Shittykawa: I made plans already

Shittykawa: wheres everyone else? theres like 14 people in the chat

Iwaizumi: its 3am what the hell do you think they could be doing

Shittykawa: fair

Shittykawa: well someones gotta be at uni in 4 hours to pick up the delivery and it aint gonna be me

* * *

Haruko sighed. These were the newest messages and the guys were obviously still online. She lived nearby, so might as well go do it. Even if that meant getting less than 4 hours of sleep, she could always just take a nap when she came back.

* * *

Ikeda: heyyy I can go pick it up

Maki: AYYYY

Daiki: AYYYYYYY youre back!

Shittykawa: hell yes thanks

Maki: hey no didn't you JUST come back from work?

Maki: you gotta take a break woman

Shittykawa: dont underestimate manager-chan

Shittykawa: shes unstoppable

* * *

Haruko smiled proudly at the comment. Maybe she had nothing to worry about after all.

* * *

Ikeda: damn right

_Maki has changed Ikeda's nickname to MVP._

MVP: ahaha thanks

Shittykawa: k so the delivery person should be at the campus gates at about 7am

Shittykawa: b there or b square

MVP: gotcha!

* * *

Haruko closed the chat and muted her phone – it was time to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before she drags herself to university on a Saturday.

* * *

**AN:**  short chapter again but I really felt like doing an update today haha. Two updates in two days, I'm on fire! I'm like, so ready to move forward with my main ideas for this story, I can't believe how long it's taking me to throw them at each other aaaargh.

For the reviewers/commenters/people leaving kudos on AO3: I see each and every one of you and thank you ahh! Lov u guys.

Also, in case this caused confusion: Maki isn't Hanamaki. It's just a random dude I named Maki. Everyone except for Iwa and Oiks are just random people who happen to go to this uni, they're the only canon characters here.  _For now_  lmao. And yeah there's a ton of other people on the team but honestly who has time, you probably JUST got used to the filler boys Maki and Daiki, no way am I introducing more than that. Imagine them as the social butterflies of the team.

Last but not least: while I do have an image of Haruko in my head, I'd prefer to leave her as a blank slate for you guys to imagine whatever you like. Honestly, even if you change her name and take this as a reader-insert fic instead, I really won't judge. You do you!


	7. Chapter 7

**98 percent**

**Chapter 7**

Haruko yawned.

It was way too early to exist.

With just a few hours of sleep she found it difficult to keep her eyes open, but coffee in one hand and gym keys in the other, she stood next to the campus gates waiting for the delivery guy. It didn't help that the weekend staff was a pain in the ass to deal with when it came to getting gym keys – which she anticipated and showed up a half an hour early.

She yawned again.  _7.15am. He's late._

Haruko began tapping her foot. About five minutes later, the delivery guy finally showed up.

_Oh for fuc-_

"Haru-chan?"

Haruko tried not to cringe at the old nickname. Miyagi was too small.

"So you're doing deliveries now?" she asked.

"Well hello to you, too. You haven't changed a bit."

Haruko wanted to glare at the boy but stopped herself.  _I will be calm, I will be positive._

"Neither have you, Terushima-san."

"Jeez, what happened to 'Yuu-kun'?" he asked, giving Haruko one of his trademark smirks.

"Where do you want me to sign for these?"

Terushima sighed and rolled his eyes, handing Haruko a pen to sign for the delivery. "So, you're going to Shokey then?"

"Mhm." Haruko murmured.

He took the pen and tablet back from her when she was done, picking up the boxes he had with him. "Where do you want these, then?"

"I can carry them myself, you know."

"I insist." he smiled.

Haruko sighed. There was no arguing with Terushima. She knew this all too well. "Fine. Follow me."

Instead of following Haruko, Terushima insisted on walking next to her. "So what brings you here on a Saturday morning, anyway?" he asked.

"It's our volleyball club's delivery, no one else was availab-"

"Volleyball? Since when are you into _that_?" he raised a brow at her.

"I'm... not. It just… kind of happened. I'm their manager." Haruko shrugged. He would have a field day if she went into details on why she got herself involved in the first place.

"Maaaaybe you're just subconsciously into volleyball players." he grinned.

"Get over yourself, Terushima." she scoffed, opening the door to the gym. Less than five minutes in and he's already unbearable. "That was  _one_  time."

He followed Haruko into the gym and placed the boxes down. "And a fun time it was."

Haruko glared at him. He is never going to let it go, is he?

Then again, this was Terushima Yuuji. The only way to get rid of him was to ignore his advances – getting angry with him only seemed to do the exact opposite.

"Don't you have deliveries you need to… you know, deliver?" she asked, leaning on the doorframe, spinning the keys around her finger impatiently.

"I can take a break." he smirked at her again.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Get out before I lock you in."

Terushima chuckled and started walking towards the door, stopping in the middle of the doorframe and turning to Haruko. He placed his arm above her and leaned in slightly, getting  _way_  too close for comfort.

"Come by Tohoku University sometime. For old time's sake." he smiled.

And with that, he disappeared from the campus as quickly as he appeared.

Haruko, though, stood where he left her for a while. Quite some time has passed since she's seen old friends. It's not like the time she spent with Terushima in the past was  _bad_. If anything, it was actually fun, he wasn't wrong on that part. He was  _THE_ party boy of Miyagi, hands down. But it was why she got with him in the first place that-

_Nope._  She shook her head.  _I am not going down that road again. I literally do not have the time or energy to think about that._

A part of her even felt bad for being so cold to Terushima. Not like he did anything wrong.

_Tohoku…_  she thought _. I'm impressed he got accepted._

She locked the gym's doors leaving the boxes inside and made her way to the university's office to drop the keys off. Doing errands for the volleyball club at this hour was exhausting. And on a Saturday, too. The  _one_  day she had off.

Once she was done with that, Haruko made her way out of the campus as well. Never has she been this excited about going back to sleep.

Too bad the excitement had to be ruined by a single phone call. She eyed the called ID. It was Oikawa.

"Heeeeey." she answered, half asleep. The coffee Haruko had in the morning didn't help much.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

She realized he's talking about the delivery. "Ah… Fine."

"Doesn't sound like it went fine?" he questioned.

"No, no, everything went fine, sorry. I just ran into and old friend I would rather have not run into."

"Really? Who?"

Haruko really wasn't up for being interrogated like this. Then again, maybe he was just being polite, asking how it went and all. She wasn't in a state to analyze his actions, either.

"The delivery guy. Listen, I'm really not-"

"Wait, you know Teru-chan?"

Haruko stopped, squinting at nothing. Oikawa and Terushima. Both into volleyball. Both team captains. Both from Miyagi. Moreover, Terushima was the area's delivery guy, and Oikawa took care of most club deliveries himself.

Of  _course_  they knew each other. This morning was going  _great_.

"Y-yeah, sort of. Did… did you need something?" The last thing Haruko wanted was for  _that_ conversation to go any further.

"Oh, yeah, sorry! Since you're already out, mind doing one more thing?"

Haruko sighed. "Depends."

"Well…"

It wasn't one thing. It was like, three more things. Reluctantly, Haruko agreed – she was their manager, after all, and she knew about the extra work when she signed up for it. She figured it was because of the official volleyball games that were coming up soon – their team was considered a favorite for the Inter-University games that were happening a month from now, mostly because of the setter and ace duo Shokey was lucky to get – Oikawa and Iwaizumi.

Haruko was excited for the games, but at the same time that meant she would have even more work than usual. Not to mention they had a few exams coming up in two weeks.

"Guess I'll have to kick it into high-gear." she murmured once Oikawa was done listing all the errands their club has to catch up on.

"Yeah, sorry… But I'm sure you can handle it. I'll let you know if anything else comes up."

She sighed. There's bound to be something else, eventually. "Sure."

Once the call ended, Haruko decided to stop by a convenience store for an energy drink. She had an entire Saturday to survive on two hours of sleep. Fabulous.

_I gotta admit his dedication is admirable, yeah… But it doesn't mean everyone else around him are going to push themselves to their limits too. Then again, I did sign up for this on my own free, albeit stupid, will._

Haruko sat down on a bench to mentally go over the list of things he asked her to do and started making a plan for the day.

_I guess studies come first and I could just quit but…_

She stopped herself there. No. She couldn't quit. Quit on the people who have been so… family-like. She was no volleyball player, no, but she knew she was helping by getting their hands off everything that wasn't playing volleyball. And she knew how much it meant to them because, well, they've told her. They've told her how much they appreciate her help. They've told her how happy they are to have her.

To Haruko, Shokey's volleyball team was family.

So at that point, she promised herself to keep on going no matter how tough the going gets.

* * *

He had to admit, he was surprised. Anyone else would have quit by now. But she just kept going no matter what amount of work he threw at her.

Oikawa put his phone down on the coffee table next to his sofa and sat back, crossing his arms. Did he actually have plans today? No. But if their so called "I want to gain management experience" manager was available, why not give her the work he was supposed to do and take the day off?

The truth was, he understood every single word she wrote in her diary. Taking a peek just to find something to tease his  _friend_  about was both the best and worst decision he's ever made.

On one hand, he was glad he found out before he got any more emotionally invested in her when she had ulterior motives. Very vain ulterior motives. Saved him from getting stabbed in the back too much.

The one girl who was comfortable around him and didn't humor him just to gain his approval, the one girl who he had almost put his full trust in, was apparently a manipulative bitch.

On the other hand, Oikawa wished he had some self-control and actually skipped on reading her diary. The other truth was that she actually  _was_ helpful. This whole ordeal was too far in for him to put an end to it – the guys loved both her personality and assistance, the coach and adviser were delighted they had a load of work taken off their shoulders, and even Oikawa himself had to admit she was willing to go far before she breaks, _if_  she breaks. He knew the damage he would do if he called her out. He knew what the damage of losing her from the team was.

And it was annoying as hell.

For Oikawa, being trapped like this was the worst feeling. The  _worst_. So he did what he could to make himself feel better. Maybe the guys were nice to her but it didn't mean he has to be. He just had to tolerate her.

However, he was also petty. Very, very petty. Oikawa was the embodiment of pettiness.

Giving Haruko an extra load of work could always be written off as 'manager duties' and his _friendship_ with her gave him a 'get out of jail free' card when it came to teasing and tormenting her. And that's exactly why he got her to agree to take in the delivery today.

Terushima.

Dealing with the man in charge of their deliveries was a pain. Terushima hit on  _everyone_ he found even remotely attractive, including Oikawa, and all he wanted was for him to torment their precious manager-chan for a little while. Oikawa knew how persistent Terushima was. When he called Haruko he expected them to still be in the middle of the "do you have a phone number to go with that pretty face" bullshit.

What he didn't expect was for them to know each other.

"Go figure…"

Oikawa sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"And she has the audacity to call  _me_  a playboy. Tch."

Terushima didn't exactly have a good reputation. Anyone who crossed paths with him, even briefly, would say that. He was Miyagi's party boy.

Oikawa couldn't help but wonder just how well Haruko knew the party boy.

Or… why he even cares about that.

He shook his head and went to get some snacks from the kitchen. He had an entire day ahead of him to binge-watch his favorite TV shows.

* * *

**AN:**  I was going to update last week but then university slam-dunked me into a garbage can. I really wasn't ready to go back oh god.

So, thing is, I wasn't going to put Terushima in at all, just briefly mention him later in a  _(very emotional)_  later chapter. But I have a few ideas and I'm conflicted. I don't want to over-saturate chapters with him because we're all here for Oiks, so it's up to you guys to let me know if you want to see more or less of him later on! Let me know!

Last but not least, thank you all again for the fanfiction net reviews/favs/follows and ao3 comments and kudos! Ily guys! :')


	8. Chapter 8

**98 percent**

**Chapter 8**

A week later Haruko was on her last legs.

Monday. Half asleep she threw her leg over her bike and made her way to university. In a way, it made her happy that she didn't have morning class with any close friends: Haruko was beyond tired and had no wish to talk to anyone, especially Oikawa who was bound to have more work for her.

Sure, the Inter-University games were next month, in about 5 weeks. But things were getting out of hand.

The two energy drinks she had in the bag kept rattling in her bag – Haruko hoped she won't have to deal with a spray fountain once she opens them later on.

The amount of work Oikawa was dropping on her shoulders was ridiculous. Errands this, help us with that, can you grab this, we need you to do that… The volleyball tournament had the worst timing, too – she had exams tomorrow so the entire previous week was filled with not only classes, volleyball work and actual work, but with intense studying as well.

Once Haruko arrived at university she chained her bike to the nearby bike rack and went in. Yawning, she made her way straight to class, hoping she won't run into any friends. It was too early to chat to anyone. Or, you know, function in general.

She plopped down at her desk and carefully opened one of the energy drinks she brought with her – thankfully it wasn't too shaken up so she didn't have to deal with a sticky energy drink shower in her face. Class soon began and she sighed in relief – somehow, studying was the easiest thing to deal with lately.

* * *

"How many has it been today?"

She looked up at Iwaizumi who was approaching their usual cubicle sofa booth, opening a soda can. In the past few months the volley-boys and her had developed a habit to have lunch there – though teammates showed up at random, most of the time there was someone there to have lunch with.

Haruko was sitting alone at that time, waiting for her instant noodles to cool off, sipping on her drink, eyes focused on her phone.

"Just two, including this one." she said giving her can a little shake. Would have been more if she hadn't run out of them. She made a mental note to take a trip to the grocery store later to stock up.

Iwaizumi shook his head sitting down across her. "Ikeda-san."

She glanced up at him, "What?"

But to her dismay, her face was met with a genuine frown. A rare sight on Iwa's face, which made her uneasy. "You know, no matter how much makeup you use, I can still see the dark circles under your eyes." he scolded. "You gotta take a break."

Haruko sighed, closing her eyes. "I'll be fine. There's a lot of work to do lately and I need to-"

"What you need to do is stop sounding like Oikawa." he interrupted.

"Eh?" she blinked at him a few times.

"I already have one person to babysit; I can't prevent both of you overworking yourselves. You  _need_  to take a break." Iwaizumi insisted.

Before Haruko could protest, a familiar sing-song voice came towards the both of them. "I heard my naaaame."

Oikawa had just turned a corner and leaned on the sofa behind Haruko, his head above her, coffee in his hand. "Speak of the devil…" she muttered.

Ignoring her, Oikawa spoke up again, turning to Iwaizumi, "What's up?"

He pointed at Haruko, as well as her energy drink and instant noodles. "That."

Oikawa looked at Haruko who was scooting over to give him some space on the sofa. "Aw, Iwa-chan cares about you." he teased, sitting down as well.

If Haruko was going to be fair, she kind of wished Oikawa didn't show up just now. Not only has the man been pestering about club work for the past week, he's also been ' _kind of a dick'_ , to put it in her words. His teasing and  _friendly_  jabs became more… harsh lately. He was clearly upset. But, being the first person to understand what stress does to a person mentally, Haruko decided to let those things slide and have him make it up to her after the tournament.

Being the team captain came with its own responsibilities, and while it was impressive how well he was hiding the stress, she knew it was there. He had no reason to lash out at her otherwise.

"I'm serious." Iwa said, annoyed at his friend, "You can't keep living like this, you'll burn out. And trust me, that ain't a pretty sight."

"Thanks, mom." Haruko muttered, taking her instant noodle cup and chopsticks into her hands, "But I'll have you know I had an entire 4 hours of sleep last night, I'm ready to roll."

Iwaizumi placed his soda can on the table with a loud thud and looked her dead in the eye, making Oikawa snicker next to her, because he knew that look all too well. It was truly entertaining to see it used on someone else. Especially manager-chan.

Haruko, though, flinched at his face. He was intimidating as hell, so she gave up, knowing he won't leave her alone otherwise. "Alright, alright, well, what do you want me to do? We have exams tomorrow and the tournament is in a little over a month so there's a ton of work on my shoulders, what am I supposed to do, just drop it?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed, lifting his free hand a bit, "There's about a dozen of other people you can drop your work on, just because you're the manager doesn't mean you have to do  _ALL_ our errands for us."

To all of their surprise, both Haruko and Oikawa spoke up at the same time.

"We need to practice."  
"You need to practice."

They turned at each other and blinked.

"Great." Iwaizumi sighed, sinking his head into his hands, "You're fucking made for each other."

Haruko and Oikawa blushed and shot their eyes back at Iwaizumi, both hoping that the other party didn't see their pink cheeks.

They both totally did.

Iwaizumi lifted his head back up, seeing the two idiots glaring at him. "We don't practice 24/7 you know."

He sat back, crossing his arms. "For example, yesterday was Sunday. What the hell were you doing that made you end up with just 4 hours of sleep?"

Seriously, what was this, an intervention?

"Well I only came back from work at about midnight, so I started late. But I was doing the paperwork for our next practice game trip. It took a little longer than I thought, they made some mistakes and-"

"Wait, hold on, that was _YOUR_  job!" Iwaizumi growled, glaring at Oikawa.

Oikawa choked on his coffee a bit, "Gah, don't startle me like that!"

He looked up at Iwaizumi who was still glaring at him, waiting for an explanation. "Um-"

He wasn't ready for this. He didn't have an excuse. He didn't-…

"Listen, if Oikawa needs to give me some of the work he was supposed to do, that's fine. I'm not the one who has exhausting practice the next day, I'll live."

The two boys gave Haruko a surprised look, Oikawa more than Iwaizumi. But she was sitting there completely unfazed, focused eating her noodles. She took another slurp and looked up to see the two boys staring at her.

"…What?"

Before Oikawa could open his mouth, Iwaizumi beat him to it. "This is exactly what I meant!"

He then turned back to Oikawa. "And  _you_! I swear, if you dropped your paperwork just to squeeze in more practice I'm going to kick your ass." he growled, "Last thing we need is you fucking up your knee again,  _especially_  right before the Interuni games!"

Haruko smirked at the boy next to her. Just as she thought his scolding was fully on Oikawa, who was sinking more and more into his seat as the scolding went on, Iwaizumi turned back to her again, "Don't think I forgot that you're here, I'm not done with you."

She flinched as he stood up and rose his index finger at her.

"If I see you overworking yourself at any time from this point onwards, I will personally make sure the coach suspends you from the club until you get your shit together. Got it?"

Haruko gulped and slowly nodded. "Good. I'll see you in class."

Iwaizumi left, throwing his empty can into a nearby garbage can, Oikawa's and Haruko's eyes on him as he walked away.

"Wow." she finally spoke. "So this is what it's like to be you."

Oikawa came back to his senses and returned to his coffee. "Yeah…"

"He's such a dad."

* * *

Haruko didn't say anything. She didn't complain about all the work, she didn't complain about the scolding, she didn't even acknowledge Oikawa blatantly dropping his work on her, instead she insisted she doesn't mind.

And that bugged the hell out of him.

Oikawa was sitting a few rows behind her in the lecture theatre, next to the still grumpy Iwaizumi. The lecture went on, but he couldn't focus on it at all, even though he knew he had exams the following day and revision was vital.

But all he could do is stare at Haruko's back, as if trying to figure her out.

That had to be her diary, right? If it wasn't, she wouldn't have reacted the way she did.

Oikawa spent so much time figuring out how to let her down when she makes a move. Let her down in a way that would make her stay on the team. A way that wouldn't end up reaching the team's ears as well.

So why, after all this time, after all this work, she hasn't made a single move on him? That was what she was after, right? If anything, she was avoiding him for the past few days!

Most importantly, though, why was this getting to him so much? She was just a girl with vain motives who could be used to benefit the team. That's all she was.

Sure, she was fun to hang out with whenever he could ignore her motives. Sure, she was his friend. Good friend.  _Was_ \- past tense. Sure, she was helpful. And hardworking. And smart.

_And hot._

Oikawa flinched at his own thoughts, bringing himself back to reality.

Haruko turning out to be indestructible was really doing a number on him.

"Yo, you okay?"

He turned to Iwaizumi who was giving him a questioning look.

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"You just  _flinched_." Iwaizumi squinted.

"Uhm. Yeah, the air-con is a bit much, I just shivered I guess. I'm fine, Iwa-chan."

Iwaizumi went back to his notes, still squinting.  _There IS no air conditioning in here…_

* * *

Tuesday. Exam day.

To Haruko's surprise, Oikawa didn't pester her about any extra work the previous day. She already had a whole plan on how to fit both studying and work into a single night, but ended up being pleasantly surprised by some extra sleep.

_Maybe he got worried about me, too. Won't ever admit it though, the little shit._

* * *

Wednesday. The day after the exams.

Haruko wondered why they call them exams when they're so short and take a single day to get graded. They were tests,  _tests_! The university was just trying to sound fancy and intimidating. Sure, they were worth a third of her final grades in each class she was taking, but what exam takes an  _evening_ to be graded?

Well, these were. She passed both of the exams she took, one with flying colors, one with… just colors. Good enough!

The girl was making her way towards the women's changing room to change into her tracksuit for practice, but was stopped by one of the university's staff members.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you from the volleyball club?"

She recognized him as one of the tutors. He seemed a little stressed and in a rush.

"I am, how can I help?"

"Oh great! I thought I remembered seeing you around a few of my students – Oikawa-san forgot his exam results on his desk and ran off to practice as always, would you mind passing them over to him?" he asked, handing Haruko some papers. "I'm very sorry to drop this on you, I'm late for a meeting!"

"Oh, sure, sure! I'm heading to practice myself so it's really no big deal." she said, taking the papers and saying goodbye to the man rushing off to his meeting.

Haruko was back on her original route and glanced over the paper. The front page only had Oikawa's name and the class name on it. She stopped.

" _Advanced English."_

Okay, now she was  _really_ interested. Haruko knew peeking at other people's results was rude, but he peeked in her diary, so it's only fair, right? While it was admirable he was taking a class to improve his crappy language skills, she couldn't help herself. She really wanted to tease him.

Soon enough, the need to know just how bad of a grade he got overpowered her and she flipped through the few pages to get to his grade.

Then, she swiftly closed it with both hands, raised her head and just… stood there for a while, staring into nothing.

_That's not right._

She looked down at her hands again where Oikawa's exam still rested. She opened it again, flipping to his grade immediately, and stared at it, his words running through her head.

" _Jeez, Ike-chan, don't give me that look. I didn't read it."_

It was on the last page of his exam paper.

" _Alright, alright, I'll admit I tried. But for some ungodly reason you had to write everything in English."_

Bold, red mark on the corner of the page.

" _My English is so bad the only thing I understood was the word 'volleyball' and then I gave up."_

98 percent.

He got a  _ninety-eight-fucking-percent_  on his Advanced English exam.

Which means he perfectly understood her diary entry, as well.

Then it dawned on her. All those unnecessary jabs and teases. All the work Oikawa's been dropping on her.

He's been overworking her on purpose. He's been putting her through all that bullshit because he thinks she's still on the team for his high and mighty self. And he hasn't said a thing. He's been lying this entire fucking time.

He's just been using that to his advantage.

_THAT SON OF A-_

"Yahoo, Ike-chan!"

She stood up straight at the voice behind her, her face suddenly as calm as a pond. She turned around with the nicest expression she could manage.

"Hey!"

Oikawa was almost taken aback by her chirpy answer. "Well someone's in a good mood today. I'm guessing you passed all your exams?"

He walked up to her, his gym bag over his shoulder – he was obviously heading to practice too.

Noone else was in the hallway. Haruko could have easily kneed him in the groin if she wanted to, with no witnesses, but decided against it. For now.

"Yup. That being said, your English tutor asked me to pass this on to you. You left it behind." she said, handing him the papers.

And there it was. Haruko felt like she was looking at a mirror. Maybe her expression was a little more dramatic when she got her diary back, but it was close to his current one anyway.

"Hey, hey, don't give me that look. I didn't see your grade. Unlike  _some people_ , I respect other people's privacy." she had to resist the urge to wink at him, "Besides, I find it admirable that you're taking advanced classes to improve."

"I… Uh… Thank you?" Oikawa mumbled, slowly taking his exam papers from her.

His expression made it obvious he didn't know what to believe. Oikawa being nervous was a rare sight, and oh god, was it a satisfying one.

Haruko then swiftly turned around and headed towards the changing room again.

"Well don't just stand there; we'll be late to practice."

She heard him shuffle his papers into his bag and start catching up to her. "R-right."

Haruko glanced at the nervous wreck that soon started walking next to her.

_Two can play at this game._

* * *

**AN:**  This is my longest chapter yet! Probably because I actually had this planned ever since I began the story hehe. You can probably tell by the title.

What, you thought the title meant something serious? Who do y'all take me for lmao. Serious titles are like spoilers.

Anyway, I actually spent a few hours today figuring out the rest of the timeline leading up to the end and I'm happy to say I have most of it sorted!

There are some chapters I'm so excited to write, you have no idea.

It's finally time to throw them into a spiral of emotions!


	9. Chapter 9

**98 percent**

**Chapter 9**

Being unable to read someone was the worst.

Oikawa felt like he's going to blow a fuse trying to figure out just how much she knows. Their team had 4v4 matches with each other today and he had Iwaizumi tell him to, quote, "get his head out of the clouds, dumbass" more than once. Clearing his mind when the stability of his team was on the line was difficult.

Why, out of all the people, did  _she_  have to be such a strong link in their team? If she leaves, and more importantly, if the team finds out the details of this…  _situation_ , they'll be shattered. They will feel cheated, they will lose trust in other teammates, there was just no way Oikawa could do that to them.

But would Ike-chan?

For a minute he thought that, maybe, if she hasn't said anything, she actually didn't see his exam results and doesn't know he understood her diary entry. But he soon realized that he's just trying to comfort himself with that thought – not like he properly confronted her about the diary either.

Not knowing what to believe was driving him crazy.

"Shittykawa, for the last god damn time!"

He snapped out of it at Iwaizumi's words. "Sorry, sorry!"

One of them knew more than the other, and Oikawa was really,  _really_  hoping it was him. He was willing to make sacrifices for his team and had no idea if she would do the same if he confronted her.

In a way, he was getting angry with himself that his negative emotions about Haruko were subsiding. He kept trying to repeat to himself that she was selfish, she was vain, she was judgmental, she was manipulative. But the fact that no actual harm had been done (yet?) was getting on his nerves.

It was strange, to want harm to have been done. Was he being selfish for wanting that, just to validate his anger with her?

Worst of all, at the end of the day, she did more good than harm. In a perfect world that sentence would start with a "best of all", but not in their case. The amount of determination Haruko had to help the team was impressive, and her hard work has been making it difficult to be angry with her.

Oikawa was bitter anyway, though.

For a moment, her dedication and diligence reminded Oikawa of himself.

_Ugh. No. We're nothing alike._

He was once again woken up from his internal monologue, but this time by a whistle. He looked at Iwaizumi who was making a time out sign with his hands, glaring at him.

Great.

* * *

Haruko had to keep her lips from curling up as she felt the pissed off aura radiate from Oikawa a few meters away from her.

He got benched for the rest of the day.

She knew just how badly he hated being on the bench while the rest of his team was making good progress – you didn't have to be his friend or even acquaintance to know that. She was sure Oikawa would end up practicing on his own once everyone went home.

Haruko knew exactly why he was completely out of it and it was oh so satisfying.

_Serves you right, you asshole._

In truth, she didn't really know how to approach their current situation. Once the initial frustration with him passed, she began to think just how badly blown up this whole thing is. It was just a misunderstanding, and honestly, if he would have confronted her at the very beginning, she was sure she could have explained everything, and none of this awkwardness would have happened. Or less of it, at least. He would have probably just ended up teasing her for thinking he's attractive, that's it.

But no, the little shit had to take advantage of it instead. At least that's what she thought he was doing, anyway.

Of course, that got on her nerves. She felt used, probably just as much as he did at first though, which, she reasoned, was fair?

_I guess? Ugh._

But Haruko was petty and wanted to drag Oikawa through a revenge quest before finally sorting things out with him.

After all, their team depended on the both of them, the captain and the manager, last thing they need right now is to see them at each other's throats. Haruko cared deeply for her team and wondered if Oikawa is refusing to confront her because he does, too. That was a viable theory, but she had no way of finding that out unless she confronted him, and that was out of the question for a while. He didn't deserve to get off the hook that easily.

For a moment, his hard work, compassion and attentiveness towards the team reminded Haruko of herself.

But he was still an asshole with a shitty personality, so screw him.  _Right?_

From an outsider perspective, though, they were just two idiots with the same ideals and goals who didn't manage to interact with each other like normal human beings.

* * *

While Haruko was scribbling things down on her tablet during practice, she caught Oikawa glancing at her in her peripheral vision. Several times. He was sitting on the bench just a few meters away, arms crossed, pretending he's totally focused on the match his teammates were playing. Usually he was pretty good at pretending – Haruko experienced this first hand – but today he was a complete mess.

Haruko knew exactly why he was like this, of course, but she decided to indulge in an entertaining chat with him. Besides, a part of her wanted to give him a chance to confess his wrongdoings.

She let out a loud sigh and turned to Oikawa. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

That, of course, caught him off guard. She saw him sink in his seat more, leaning back at the gym wall. He didn't say anything. So she decided to poke him a little more.

"Seriously, what's up?"

Haruko being so casual was getting to him even more. Was she actually being casual? Was it an act? Was it-

"Oikawa?"

He really, really needed to get his shit together and stop spacing out. "I… Sorry. I was just wondering how you're, um, doing?"

_No, that's not what you're wondering at all._

"I'm fine. Why?"

"Dunno. You seem stressed." he answered quietly, avoiding looking at her.

" _I_  seem stressed?" she raised an eyebrow at him before returning to her notes. "I'm not the one who got benched because I couldn't focus.  _Clearly_  something is bothering you."

Haruko could swear she heard the man grit his teeth. This was too good to pass up. So she pushed on.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about, I'm fine."

Oikawa's tone was reaching angry regions, so she decided to turn this around on him.

"You know, just because something is bothering you, doesn't mean you have to lash out at me. I didn't do anything."

For a split second, he could have sworn he saw her hold a smirk in. Just what is she getting at?

"Maybe you did." he spat, sinking into his seat even more than before. Haruko was happy that the coach, as well as the rest of the team, was too far to hear any of this. This wasn't friendly banter anymore.

"If you're so  _unhappy_  with what I'm doing, maybe you should do things  _yourself_  for a change."

He finally turned to Haruko throwing her a very,  _very_ unsatisfied glare, only to be met by her own stern face. She wasn't backing down and continued.

"Not to be a  _selfish bitch_ , but I've been working my ass off lately, and all you've been doing is giving me more work without even mentioning a single thank you. Don't you give me this shit now. I may be patient, but I have limits too. You've been annoying as hell lately, and bitter too, like, I get it, you're stressed – we  _all_  are. But lash out at me  _again_  and I swear to god, Oikawa, I'll-… Ugh…"

She trailed off while shaking her head and went back to her notes, not expecting him to follow up on the threat. But he did.

"Or you'll what? Quit?"

"What?!" she snapped back at him in disbelief, "Okay, just cause I'm upset with you doesn't mean I'd quit on everyone else – just how self-centered  _are_  you?"

Oikawa's words got stuck in his own throat.

There was no way she was actually doing it for the team, right? It was for him, right? He totally didn't put her through hell for nothing, right?

"S-sorry." he muttered, making both himself and Haruko surprised.

_Did… did he just apologize?_

_Did I just apologize?!_

"Ah…" Haruko scratched the back of her head. "It's… it's fine, you're stressed. It's fine."

She went back to her notes once more, hoping this awkward conversation won't continue. There she was trying to get the better of him and he spits an apology out, albeit a half-assed apology, but still.

* * *

Practice ended. Then the day. And then, finally, the week.

Haruko was at work on her usual Sunday shift – not a lot of people drank on Sundays, usually it was either the jobless or the students.

Being pre-occupied with work meant she could take her mind off the whole Oikawa-situation. He was on her mind way too often these days.

"Ikeda-chan, can you grab these from the back?"

Haruko's manager, Kamiya Yumi, or Kami-chan to her, handed her some receipt paper with a stock list scribbled on it. She nodded and swiftly made her way to the back room, hoping to get everything before the next wave of customers.

Kami-chan was a goddess of a manager. Haruko had part-time jobs before, but none of them came close to the bar she worked in now. Her manager was understanding and fair, but at the same time, she gave off a very intimidating vibe. She was an ideal leader, both being there for her employees, but never letting them take advantage of her good nature. She was a few years older than Haruko, giving the girl hope that she, too, will be this cool someday.

Haruko had barely worked there for six months and they became total best friends. Well, at work anyway. Hanging out with your manager after work hours would be weird.

Soon she came back with the drinks and other supplies, refilled the fridges and went back to serving customers.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The same small bar, the same sticky bar counter Haruko tried her best to keep clean, the same leather sofa, armchairs and a little coffee-like table in the corner – her favorite place to be when she wasn't working. It was so odd for a bar to have such a cozy corner, but no matter how many spilled drinks that sofa had absorbed by now, it was still her favorite spot in the whole bar. She would hang out there with her coworkers after hours sometimes.

The same old tiny stage, too. The same old posters of crappy, edgy bands who had upcoming gigs at their bar.

The same old faces she would serve drinks to nearly every Sunday.

All the same old faces.

Except  _one_.

A sharp ring of shattering glass filled her manager's ears, as well as one of her coworker's who was just coming back from her break. The customers themselves were too drunk or too busy to notice.

They both looked up at Haruko, who had just dropped a glass she was wiping on the floor. She stood there, eyes wide, staring at someone in the crowd.

"Ikeda-chan?" she came over to her friend, trying to snap her out of it, "Are you okay? Hey?"

Haruko, even though not fully back to her senses, did her best to try and process who she just saw, and what happened. She looked at the glass below her and then at her manager, but words were getting stuck in her throat.

"I… I'm so-rry I-…"

Kamiya shot up straight when she heard her voice break. Haruko was shaking. Kamiya grabbed her by the arm and started pulling her to the break room, asking their other, very confused coworker to cover for them.

The moment she shut the break room door behind them, Haruko sat down in one of the chairs there and sunk her head into her hands.

It was a terrible attempt of hiding tears.

* * *

"Ikeda-chan, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. I don't want to pry, but you're really worrying me, sweetie."

But no matter how much Kamiya tried, she couldn't get anything out of her distressed employee.

Another 10 minutes or so passed, and finally, with a shaky voice, Haruko spoke up.

"Kami-chan, I'm really sorry, please don't fire me, but can I go home early tonight?"

"Sweetie, no one's going to fire you!" her manager exclaimed, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders, "You're obviously going through some shit, if you need to go, you  _go_."

Haruko wanted to break back into tears simply because of how thankful she was for her manager, but she held it in and nodded, getting up to collect her stuff.

"You okay to let yourself out? I'll be heading back to the bar. Call me if you need to talk, okay?"

Haruko nodded again and muttered a small 'thank you' as her manager walked out.

* * *

She stared at her apartment's ceiling, laying on the floor-mattress she called her bed. Half of her wanted to stop existing, half of her was a clustertruck of emotions. Mix those two together and you get a beautiful bundle of nothing. The beautiful feeling of "I am so done with everything".

She laid there with her phone next to her ear, listening to the dial beeps until a familiar voice picked up.

"Hoooooly shit I cannot believe you still have my number!"

Haruko rolled her eyes at nothing. Of course he was ecstatic. It was 9pm on a Sunday, she was surprised she couldn't hear any crappy club music in the background.

"Where are you?" Haruko asked.

The line was silent for a while.

"Ah, fuck." the man on the other end had a complete change of heart from his previous cheerful attitude, "I know that tone, Haru-chan. Please don't tell me she's  _back_?"

Haruko didn't say anything. Or, rather, she couldn't. That was enough of an answer.

"God damnit… Miyagi is way too small."

She chuckled at his words – that's exactly what she thought when she ran into him. Hearing nothing but silence, he spoke up again.

"Can you be ready in ten minutes? I'll pick you up."

"Yeah. Thanks Teru."

"Anytime."

She gave Terushima her address, not even trying to process on how he plans to get here in ten minutes, and went to get ready, trying to preoccupy herself with fixing her makeup.

The ten minutes were up in a flash, even though they seemed like an eternity, and Haruko noticed her phone's screen flash with Terushima's caller ID on it. She dropped the call and went out, locking her apartment and taking the elevator down.

When she came out of the apartment building, she saw Terushima on the other side of the road, leaning on a motorcycle.

_Of course he bought a motorcycle. Classic Yuuji._

Haruko could have sworn he had more piercings every time they met.

Terushima looked up at her as he noticed her walking up to him. Any other day he would compliment her appearance – leather jacket, dark red lipstick. She was a bomb.

But the last thing she needed today was him hitting on her. And he knew that well.

"So…" he began, "On a scale from 1 to 10, how reckless are you feeling tonight?"

She stopped in front of Terushima and looked up at him.

"Eleven."

* * *

 **AN:**  Sorry this was so OC-heavy or confusing, it will clear up soon! This isn't enough Oikawa for my taste and I'm the one writing it lmao. I promise this is an important bit leading up to a really emotional (?) chapter, one I really, really am looking forward to writing. Thank you for reading and for all the love you leave me in the reviews and comments!

We are super close to the breaking point of the story and it's gonna be full-on-Oikawa, sorry about the slow build-up!


	10. Chapter 10

**98 percent**

**Chapter 10**

_Story note: alcohol and drug mentions from here on out (nothing hard, just weed)_

* * *

Haruko slammed the 5th shot glass on the table – if it wasn't for the loud generic club music, that slam would have probably attracted attention.

At first she stuck close to Terushima since she had no idea who any of the people around them were – Teru, though, knew half of Miyagi, so even at the very first club he dragged her to they ran into some of his friends. Which wasn't really a bad thing since they got to share a booth with them when all the other ones were taken.

The further into the city center, the busier it got. Even on a Sunday tons of students were out, none of them having a slightest concern about the hangover they will have the next day. The city was alive, even at this time of night. Terushima had left his motorcycle next to his dorms, which, luckily, were nearby the city center and all the venues he had interest in.

When they arrived, he took Haruko's hands in his and made a promise.

"Today you are with me, so I promise I will make sure you leave all your worries and the real world behind, okay? It's the least I can do."

And that's exactly what he did.

Terushima wasn't known to be the party boy of Miyagi just because he went to parties a lot. He did, but the reason behind his nickname was that he always brought the party with him, and moreover, made sure everyone around him was having a good time.

She was reluctant before the first few drinks, mumbling about how this might be a bad idea, about how she has class in the morning.

But slamming his own shot glass right after Haruko, he looked at her and saw someone who was finally coming back to their old self. Especially compared to earlier today. An hour and several drinks in, she was having a blast already.

Teru reached towards her over the table and took her hand, pulling her away from the booth and towards the dancefloor.

"Come ooon!" he yelled over the loud music, feeling her resist.

"Pfff, noooo, Teru, I'm- I'm terrible at this ahah-"

Just like old times, Haruko wasn't great at handling her drinks. In this case, though, that was a good thing.

First, that meant his bar tab wouldn't suffer much – the girl didn't bring a wallet with her, not even her phone, nothing. It seemed like she wanted to disconnect from the world in every way possible. So the drinks were on him.

Second, she was easy to convince to have fun and was already mouthing the song lyrics and following him with less and less resistance into the large crowd of people and flashing lights.

And soon enough they were dancing, dancing away any worry they had in the world. She wasn't bad at it, either, Terushima knew she was just being sheepish. A lot of time may have passed, but it still felt like he saw her just yesterday. And she danced just like she used to.

Seeing her sing her heart out while dancing, he couldn't help but join in, the two nearly screaming the lyrics out on the top of their lungs.

The drinks were really kicking in.

Haruko noticed him slow down a bit and take his phone out, and before she could protest (not that she had any willpower to do that anyway) he pulled her close for a selfie, quickly swiping over to a dumb Snapchat filter.

"Teru! Don't post-"

"It's posted!" he laughed.

Logically, she knew she should be worried just how many people follow him on Snapchat, and how many of them knew her. But at this point her brain didn't manage to process that and she just laughed, continuing to dance.

Dancing with Terushima was a good reminder of how touchy-feely he was, but Haruko didn't mind. Today his attention was exclusively on her, and his hands running through her hair or on her hips were just a side-effect of that, as well as the drinks they both had.

But that was just how he was, and Haruko knew that. He was always touchy-feely with everyone, he hasn't changed a bit and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Even if it didn't mean anything, it was still nice. It was nice to just do these things with no hidden meanings, no hidden intents behind them. It was just her and Terushima having fun, and no one was there to stop them.

She had forgotten about her worries, the same way how she had forgotten how much fun he was to be around.

Haruko wrapped one of her hands around his neck, pulling him in making their foreheads touch, as they yelled the lyrics of whatever song was playing at each other, laughing and dancing in between.

Terushima knew he did well. A big smile on her face and not a care in the world was all he needed. But the night was long and the adventure didn't stop at the first club they went to.

As he was figuring out where to take her next, Haruko's jumping to the beat became a little off and soon she stopped completely, gripping onto him for dear life, waving her hand a little and saying something he couldn't quite make out, but he got the signal.

She was getting sick.

"I'm on it."

Terushima dragged her out of the stuffy crowd, immediately giving her a little more room to breathe, shoved her towards the direction of the door while he went to grab her jacket, said a quick goodbye to his friends and grabbed an empty plastic cup from their table. He glanced over to the door, catching a glimpse of Haruko successfully making it outside, and made his way to the restroom to fill up the cup with tap water.

Soon after he was standing outside the club with her as she downed the cup of water. Taking a deep breath and putting her jacket on, she looked at him and muttered a small 'holy shit thank you' – Haruko was feeling  _much_  better within seconds.

"I'm honestly impressed how quickly you reacted to that…" she said.

"I do this every weekend, who do you take me for?" Teru smirked. It was true, he really knew what he was doing. "You're not getting off the hook that easily. I need to keep you going all night, I've been out with people with way worse stamina and alcohol handling than yours, surprisingly."

She rolled her eyes at the comment, throwing the empty cup out.

"So, what's next on the agenda?" she asked, looking up at the party boy.

"Well," he gave it some thought, "The fresh air is going to sober you up in no time, and that's not what we're aiming at here."

Haruko chuckled. He was right again, she was already feeling much more sober than before.

"So, I think I'll get the heavier artillery out before we hit the next venue. Not here, though, come on."

He motioned her to follow him with his head and threw his arm around her shoulder when she got close. "What do you have in mind?" she asked, putting her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"I may or may not have stopped by my dealer's place before picking you up." Terushima shrugged, smirking, "Figured you won't handle your alcohol well, so…"

He trailed off and pulled her into a shady-looking alley where she could see a few other people further down, the faint smell of weed coming from their direction filling her nose. Even if it was really frowned upon in Japan, students didn't seem to care much.

"You've come prepared, haven't you?" she raised her eyebrow at him as he leaned to the wall and started rolling up a joint.

"I'm always prepared."

She snorted, then leaned at the wall next to him and crossed her arms, watching him work. It was dark, but she still caught a glimpse of his tongue ring sparkle from the faint moonlight as he licked the side of the joint and closed it shut.

Part of Haruko wanted to  _be_  that joint. Part of her really wanted to invite him back to her place. Part of her really wanted to just say 'fuck it' and sleep with him. Just to feel wanted and needed.

But she's done it before and knew all too well how weird things got between them afterwards. Even if that time was partly accidental.

Then she remembered.

"Hey, Teru…"

He was taking a lighter out of his pocket and turned to her. "Hm?"

"Sorry about being so distant back then, when you did our delivery. You didn't do anything wrong, I was just… The whole… Y'know. I'm sorry, I know you were trying to make things be as-"

"Haru-chan, chill. It's fine." Terushima cut her off and shook his head, "It's like you barely know me these days. You know I'm the last person to be upset about things like that."

She sighed. "I know. And I'm really thankful for that."

Terushima was a person who never let himself be tied down by anyone. He always came with no strings attached, and never worried about people coming and going from his life. That didn't mean he was heartless though – he had a small group of people he cared deeply for, a few close friends that were there for him when things went south, while he was there for them too, even when they don't talk for months or even years. They were the very few people that didn't judge him for his carefree lifestyle, too.

One of those friends was Haruko.

"Besides," he continued, "We were both there. You don't have to explain why you don't feel like seeing me, I know why. I chose not to talk about it as well. Actually, you don't have to explain yourself to me even if there's no valid reason. You just… you don't have to explain yourself to me. Ever."

Haruko gave him a slight nod, then turned away to stare into nothing. Terushima knew she was beginning to overthink things again, and he was going to have none of that.

"So, now that all that depressing shit is out of the way, would you like to do the honors?"

She turned to him again to see him holding the joint he rolled up in one hand, and his lighter in the other. Haruko chuckled taking both of them from him, putting her hand around the joint to shield the flame from the wind as she was lighting it up.

It's been way too long since she's smoked pot with Terushima.

Needless to say, a few joints later, paired up with more drinks, made the rest of the night a complete blur.

* * *

"Come oooooon!"

"Dude, no…"

"Come on, my treat, I know this guuuuy, he's gonna give us a discount, too."

"Li-Listen, I… I am exsi-.. excesvel-..  _excessively_  too high to be making good life choices right now."

"Okay, okay, hang on, consider this – it's… Wait, hang on, I haven't- I haven't figured my argument out yet, hold on."

"Y'know- Y'know what, screw it, let's do it."

* * *

 **AN:** oh wow I am so sorry. me: is writing an oikawa fic. also me: includes zero oikawa in the entire chapter.

Please bear with me, I am getting there! Gotta get through the background stuff out of the way first. Starting from the next chapter it's gonna be full-on Oiks so thank you for being so patient with me! :')

Don't do drugs though, kids. Only reason I'm writing this in is because the first time I saw Teru I'm like... yes, yes this person definitely does weed. It's a headcanon I can never unsee.


	11. Chapter 11

**98 percent**

**Chapter 11**

Step one: do not stand or sit up quickly after a long night out.

Failed step one.

Immediate regret came over Haruko, along with a massive headache, as soon as she shot up from the bed. She groaned out loud, trying to pry her eyes open and figure out just where in the hell she is.

Her groaning made someone shuffle in their sleep – she noticed Terushima sleeping on a couch in the tiny room she was in. She looked around, her hand on her head, and her throat dry. It was a tiny college-like dorm room with a desk, a couch, the bed she was on, a dresser and some edgy band posters on the walls, as well as a mirror. Haruko could have sworn she's seen the same posters in the bar she works in. She figured this was Teru's dorm room.

The shock pain from her head soon subdued to a bearable level and most of the leftover pain went straight into her tongue.

_Wait, what?_

Haruko sat on the bed flicking her tongue a few times, trying to figure out why it's so sore. It didn't take long for the realization to hit.

_Oh HELL no._

She shot up from the bed (which, of course, did a number on her headache, but there were more pressing matters at hand) and quickly went over to the mirror. Before investigating her concerns, she noticed that she was wearing the exact same clothes from last night.

Haruko then opened her mouth and stepped closer to the mirror. She was correct.

She had a tongue piercing.

"You've got to be joking!"

Haruko glared at Terushima who was now groaning and slowly waking up from her outburst.

"Where's the fire..?"

"Dude! I have a freaking tongue piercing!" she exclaimed, still glaring at him while he was still trying to focus his vision.

"Wha..?"

He heavily sat up, rubbing his eyes – the man seemed to have no hangover whatsoever, he was just sleepy – and questioningly looked at Haruko. She shook her head slightly and stuck her tongue out, pointing at the piercing.

"Oooh. Right, that happened." he raised his eyebrows and then grinned like an idiot, "Siiiiick, we match now!"

Haruko cupped her face in her hands and let out a very loud "UUUURGHHHHHHH."

"What are you complaining about? It looks good!" Terushima said.

"Oh yeah, because I definitely want a ton of people fantasizing about me going down on them because of this thing. It looks kinky, I'm taking it out."

"No no no no no!" he lifted his hands up motioning Haruko to stop, "You gotta keep it in for at least two months, unless you want an infection."

"Are you serious? You can't possibly expect me to go to class with this?"

"Well, just… Just don't show anyone? And don't talk much?"

"For  _two months_?"

Terushima shrugged humming and "I don't know" sound at her.

Haruko put her hands back down and let out another groan. "How did this even happen? Like, I barely remember anything from last, just a few things, it's like there's a slideshow in my head…"

He leaned back on the sofa as Haruko sat next to him doing the same. "Well, I can sum it up for you. We went to some club, you didn't do well with your alcohol, so we went behind it to smoke."

"Yeah, that much I can recall."

"Right, so after that we went to a different club, and when we came out for some fresh air and another joint, I saw my buddy Toshi who did all of my piercings. And I'm like, shit, I have a great idea. You just kind of rolled with it."

Haruko let out yet another groan.

"Anyway, he didn't even bother using painkillers cause you were too high to feel anything, it was impressive even. So we got you a piercing and went to another club where we joined some of my friends, then left with them cause they were headed to a house party, spent some time there, then came back to my humble abode," he stretched his arms out to motion at his furniture, "ordered some pizza, which, you insisted was the best thing you've ever eaten in your life, even though it was from the shady pizza place down the road, and then we just talked for a few hours, finishing up the two joints I had left. Then you fell asleep and I went to sleep too."

"Okay, I remember that pizza, it was a good pizza. I also remember not being able to figure out how to open the box."

"Haha yeah, that was fun."

The two laughed in unison, making Haruko put her hand on her head again because of the loud noise. This was going to be a long day. "Ow…"

"Ah, hang on…"

Terushima got up to look for painkillers and soon threw a small box of them at her, as well as a bottle of water. She held the bottle up, telling him "I'm keeping this for the day."

"Sure, sure. What's the plan, anyway? Cause I'm definitely not ready to survive a lecture, screw that."

Then it hit her.

It was Monday.

She had class.

"SHIT!" Haruko exclaimed, "What's the time?"

Terushima shuffled around looking for his phone.

"Uuuh, 12:15pm?"

"Shiiiiiit I had class this morning! And I have another class in 15 minutes!" she panicked.

"You're seriously going to go to-"

"PLEASE give me a ride to Shokey!"

Terushima looked up to the desperate girl next to him. Well, it wasn't his place to judge – not everyone could allow themselves to skip class and still do well. He sighed. "Fiiiine."

Haruko clapped her hands together (quietly!) and rushed to the door, realization quickly coming over her as she saw herself in the mirror. Her makeup had  _somehow_  survived, all but the red lipstick at least, and her hair was a bit messy, but bearable.

Her outfit, however, wasn't exactly casual – the jeans and white sneakers worked, but the leather jacket and a blouse she called ' _the cleavage shirt'_  was a no-no. The tongue piercing didn't help.

"Dude, wait, I can't go in looking like this."

Terushima quickly eyed her while putting his own sneakers on. "I mean… you  _can_ , no one is _technically_  stopping you…"

"You are  _literally_  looking at my cleavage right now."

"…Yeah, you want a hoodie or something?"

"Please."

* * *

Haruko got off Terushima's motorcycle as he stopped by the university's gates, gave him a quick hug and a "see you later" wave, and finally rushed off towards her class, minutes left before it was supposed to begin.

She didn't even have her phone to check the actual time – just the water bottle she had taken from Teru. His plain grey hoodie was definitely oversized, but it worked well enough. She had left the leather jacket at his dorm, hoping that she will eventually get it back. No point in carrying it around all day.

Haruko put the water bottle and her hands into the kangaroo pocket of his hoodie and skipped over to her class, entering seconds before the lecture began. She gave a quick wave to Iwaizumi and Oikawa a few rows behind her own desk, who, she could have sworn, were holding grins in. Um, okay?

She quietly asked to borrow some paper and a pen from the person sitting next to her and started taking notes, as difficult as it was.

* * *

Haruko thanked the girl who stayed behind after the lecture to help her catch up with what she had missed in the morning – thank heavens this person took the same morning class as she did. Everyone else had left at that point, so she decided to make her way to the 'volley-sofa' to meet up with her friends before volleyball practice.

This weekend felt so long, it felt like she hadn't seen them in months. As she was walking towards the lounge area she realized there are probably 700+ group chat messages waiting for her at home.

Haruko saw Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Maki and Daiki, 'the fantastic four' as she liked to call them, as well as one more boy from the team, who's name she still can't remember. She wanted to say hello as she approached them, but before she could even open her mouth, Maki noticed her and nearly yelled.

"Hooooly shit she's alive!"

"Yooooooo!" with a quick follow-up from Daiki, the rest of them started snickering.

The girl squinted at them, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Oikawa was about to say something, only to be cut off by Maki shoving his hand in Oikawa's face, "Show us the piercing!"

Haruko's eyes widened and she furrowed her eyebrows, "How do you know about that?.."

Oikawa was once again about to say something, but Maki repeated exactly what he did before and cut him off, "Show us and we'll tell you."

She watched Oikawa shove Maki off and take off his glasses to clean them from his fingerprints. Haruko squinted at the glasses-boy, he clearly knew something. But how..?

He put his glasses back on and turned to her, smirking, "Sooo? I was just going to tell you but I like Maki-chan's plan more." he teased.

_Great, he's back to his old, shitty self. Fabulous._

She groaned for the billionth time today. They had the upper hand and knew about it anyway, might as well.

She looked to the side, rolling her eyes and opened her mouth, sticking her tongue out.

Haruko could have sworn she saw Oikawa sink into his seat in the corner of her eye, but couldn't process that because her thoughts were cut off by the volley-boys  _McFreakin' losin' it_.

"You actually got it oh my goooood!"  
"You wilddd!"  
"Holy shit!"

A few hyena-type laughs from the boys made Haruko's headache kick in again.

"Uuugh, inside voices,  _please_!" she crossed her arms, glaring at the group, "Now will you tell me how you found out about this?"

The group glanced over at Oikawa, of  _course_  it had to be his doing, and he sighed. "Alright, alright."

She watched him take his phone out of his pocket and click a few times. Then he turned the screen to her.

Eyes wide, she grabbed the phone from his hands and stared at the photo.

"That son of a bitch!"

"Whoa, language!" Maki said, trying his best not to laugh and failing miserably.

Ignoring him, Haruko focused on what she was looking at. The little shit named Terushima Yuuji had apparently been taking selfies and photos all night, as well as uploading them to Snapchat. And there they were, taking a selfie together in some club. It would be all fine and dandy if both of them weren't making a really suggestive 'tongue between two fingers' gesture together.

"Move."

She glared at Oikawa who, just like the rest of them, was doing his best to suppress his grin, and he shuffled over closer to Maki to give her space to sit down.

Haruko started flicking through all the photos Terushima had uploaded to Snapchat – good gracious there was even a video of her getting the piercing, it really  _did_  look like she couldn't feel anything. That, along with photos of them playing beer pong (which they had apparently won), tons of selfies with random strangers from clubs and the house party they went to, all topped off with a final picture of Haruko sitting on the ground at his dorm room, eating pizza and giving it a thumbs up.

She sighed, relieved there was nothing  _too_  embarrassing on there and slid Oikawa's phone on the table back to him. Her hopes to have a single quiet moment were in vain, as Maki spoke up again.

"Ikeda-san, how do you even know him? The guy's a legend!"

She lifted her head at Maki and realized he's talking about Terushima. _Legend_  was a bit farfetched, but whatever.

"We met at a party once I think, back in high school. I've known him for years."

Haruko noticed Daiki in the corner who was about to make some "ooh la la" sound or something equally as dumb as that, and cut him off before he could do so, "We're  _friends_."

A short silence followed, broken by the social boy Maki again, "You know, I'm just gonna come out and say what we're all thinking."

Haruko raised her eyebrow at him.

"That look really suits you."

"Maki!" the other team members scolded him in unison, making Haruko realize that they may or may not have discussed her 'nightly outfit' before she showed up.

But she decided to dismiss him and rolled her eyes, "Oh keep it in your pants, Maki."

She then turned to Oikawa who was still sitting next to her, "And  _you_  – don't think I haven't noticed you've been staring at me for the past five minutes. I've told you before and I'll tell you again, take a picture, it'll last longer."

At first Haruko could have sworn she saw him flinch at her callout, but much to her dismay, the boy recovered very quickly.

"Oh don't worry, I already took plenty of Snapchat screenshots. I'm good."

She gave him a quick glare before shoving her face into her hands and doing the same "UUUUUUUUGH" she did in the morning. This day was getting better every second.

She grabbed her water bottle off the table, stood up and started heading towards the changing room where she kept her tracksuit. "See you in practice, you assholes."

"Byeeeee!"

"Please don't leave us, we loooveee youuuu!"

"You can't run from us Ikeda-saaan!"

She continued to be on her way, shook her head and chuckled, taking a sip from her water bottle. They were idiots, but they were  _her_  idiots.

* * *

"I'll be right behind you."

Iwaizumi nodded at Oikawa and left him behind to head to practice. The latter was dealing with some emails from university, typing replies out on his phone. He's not one to be late to practice, if anything he would usually be the first one to show up, but he decided that  _he needs a freaking minute_.

What the hell was that?

Reluctantly Oikawa flicked through his phone to get to his image folder and opened one of the photos he had saved this morning. The same one he showed Haruko just a few minutes back. Except with Terushima cropped out.

He stared at it for a while. Then closed it and tried really, really hard not to think about how his heart sunk when Haruko stood there with her mouth open and pierced tongue out. He failed miserably and couldn't stop thinking about how much he wanted to-... Wait, what  _did_  he want to do?

_Uuuuugh I didn't even know I was into that…_

Oikawa sunk in his seat even more, his butt pretty much hanging in the air. He couldn't figure out what the hell he was feeling and that went on the never-ending list of things that bugged him about her.

Was he intimidated? Was he turned on? Was he both? For a few brief moments she had a look in her eyes that could kill a man, and for  _some reason his stupid brain had to find that attractive, like, really? Are you serious?_

You know what, nevermind any of that, it's cool, he's cool, it's all good. Nothing wrong with finding someone attractive. She was still a bitch, a judgmental, manipulative bitch. Yup.

Part of him wished he didn't know that. So he did his best to shove that part of himself deep, deep down into the back of his thoughts and got up to head to practice.

* * *

 **AN:**  wow this turned out way longer than I thought it would be haha oops

also I just realized I forgot that Teru is a 2nd year and he technically should be a 3rd year right now, not in uni... we're just going to ignore thAT MY BAD


	12. Chapter 12

**98 percent**

**Chapter 12**

_Chapter note: excessive swearing at the end._

* * *

 

"God  _DAMNIT_."

The other girls in the changing room turned to Haruko with questioning looks. She noticed them and sighed, turning to show them her hip, where a large hole in her pants was enough of an explanation – she had torn the pants of her tracksuit.

"Oh no, Ikeda-chan!" one of them exclaimed.

"Yeah, I don't think 'oh no' covers it… Ugh, who leaves exposed nails on the walls like this? I'm surprised I'm not  _bleeding_ …" she rubbed the spot where the nail had caught on the fabric, as well as a bit of her skin – thankfully it was nothing more than a scratch. The pants, though, had torn pretty badly – she was just about to walk out when the fabric got caught, and the sudden tug did a pretty bad number on the piece of clothing.

"Hang on, you can't possibly go to practice in those…" one of the girls said, looking at Haruko who was desperately trying to put the fabric back in place.

Haruko felt bad she can't remember any of their names, despite meeting them in the changing room nearly every weekday. All she knew was that they were from the girls tennis club.

"Okay, well, this is all I've got…" the girl said, handing Haruko a sporty black skirt.

Right. Tennis club. Tennis skirts. Of course.

Better than going into practice with a huge hole in her pants. She quickly changed into it – it was short, but not too much, the skirt ended right before her knees. Admittedly, combined with the white and purple club jacket and white sneakers, it looked a lot better than the sweatpants she had.

"Ah, I'm so glad it fits!"

Haruko turned back to the girl, with her teammates nodding in approval. She smiled and thanked her for her help.

"How come you have an extra skirt anyway? Oh and where do I leave it after practice?"

She smiled at Haruko, "I always keep an extra in case of anything like  _that_ ," she pointed at garbage bin in the corner, the one which Haruko had slam-dunked her sweatpants into, "ever happening. Just leave it on one of the chairs, if I finish practice before you I'll just pick it up tomorrow."

"Wow, you're prepared." Haruko chuckled, "Will do."

"Go cause some nosebleeds, Ikeda-chan!" one of the other tennis girls said, winking at her.

She smiled and rolled her eyes, and soon after went out saying goodbye to the girls. Usually Haruko would have her tablet computer with her to take notes, but seeing as she didn't even have her phone, she decided she would have to borrow a clipboard from coach Mukai, or help out in other ways today.

* * *

 

Oikawa rolled his eyes at his teammates in their club room room – they've been going on about their manager for the past 10 minutes, non-stop, which led them to do a simple task of changing into their sportswear way longer than it would usually take.

"I mean not only did we get a manager, not only did we get a  _cute_ manager, we actually got a manager that's  _hot as hell_! I almost regret coming to Shokey and I wanna punch my past self now for ever thinking that."

One of the other teammates turned to Maki, "Cute managers are _so_  high-school, hot managers are like, a step-up from that game. Where did you even find her?"

"We didn't! She found us! She just showed up one day!" Maki explained, a little too loudly.

Oikawa had been quiet throughout the whole conversation, dressed and ready to go while his teammates were in no hurry whatsoever. As captain he wanted to rush them, but as a person he knew that if he said anything they would start teasing him for  _very obviously staring_  at her himself, which would then lead to him possibly blurting out something he shouldn't say.

With every bit of fondness his teammates showed for Haruko – whether it was her personality or looks – Oikawa grew more and more annoyed. Sure, there was a chance she genuinely cared for the team, but the fact about her original intentions still stood and he had to hold back from telling his team so much.

_Don't you see that she was just using you to get to me?_

Every time he would repeat those words in his head he would go through every possible scenario to follow, none of which were pretty. They're all so head over heels for her, they would be crushed.

Oikawa figured that he would be, too. He didn't know if it was because he would be upset over seeing his teammates hurt, or because he was finding it hard to repress the fact that he had the hots for her too.

That was another topic all on its own. Finding someone so attractive, someone who hits all your weaknesses at once, even those you  _didn't even know you had_ , was usually a good thing. But not when you knew you can't have the person, ever.

Part of him wanted to stop caring about her selfish intentions. But if he did hook up with her, he would be walking right into what she wanted in the first place.

Oikawa Tooru was no one's boy-toy.

"Dude, what if I asked her out?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. If he was going to keep quiet about what he knew, he would have to deal with this kind of shit. Constantly.

"Maki, if Terushima is her type, then you're way out of her league. We all are."

"Yeah but she said they're just friends…" he whined. "Come on, don't tell me you've never thought about asking her out!"

"Hey, hey, I respect my teammates, and if none of us get her, then-… Alright who am I kidding, we've all thought about it."

"Especially after she got that piercing." Daiki added from the other side of the room, earning several nods and noises of approval from the team. "Like, I know that was yesterday, but  _damn_."

Right. The piercing. That god damn piercing.  _Thanks for putting that image back into my head, Daiki._

Part of Oikawa was glad that he wasn't the only one obsessing over it. Part of him was jealous.

Because every time he would remember it, he couldn't help but wonder what her tongue and that piercing would feel like on his di-

_NOPE._

He shot up and head straight out the door. "OKAY, time for practice, let's GO."

A few of his teammates had even flinched at their captain's sudden movement, especially when he had been quiet the entire time. Shrugging it off, they followed him to the gym, and, unknown to them, to their demise.

* * *

 

_You've got to be kidding me._

Oikawa, as well as anyone else who had noticed Haruko walk into the gym, stopped doing whatever they were doing and couldn't help but stare at her.

_This woman is going to kill me._

As if the piercing wasn't enough, she had walked into the gym with a tennis skirt. A goddamn tennis skirt.

Haruko sighed, clearly feeling their eyes glued to her, and brought up the whistle she had hanging around her neck to her lips.

'FWIIIIIIIIIP'

The loud whistle noise made the rest of the teammates turn to her, standing near the entrance with a clipboard. Great, now all of them had their eyes glued to her, at this point Haruko couldn't tell if she felt flattered or uncomfortable.

The boys took a moment to register that she needs them to come over, which they did more than happily. Those that haven't seen her earlier said their hellos, some with their voices an octave higher than usual.

_This is going to be a long day…_

She sighed and began, "Okay, so, before _any_ of you say anything like 'what's with the new outfit',  _Maki, Daiki, and/or Oikawa_ ," the boys pressed their lips at the glare and callout she gave them, "my pants got ripped and I had to borrow this from the tennis club girls. So don't get used to it."

With a stern voice, she continued, "As if my day couldn't get any better, I'm also in charge of you lot for today. Mukai-sensei caught up with me while I was coming over, asking me to cover for him – he had to go to a meeting, which will probably last for the rest of the day. He gave me a list of things you all need to do, and told me to tell you, ahem..."

She cleared her throat and began imitating their coach's voice.

"If they don't do as you say, you tell me and I will make sure they all regret it after I make them do 100 serves."

The team flinched in sync. Good.

Haruko had to admit it was fun being in charge.

"So," she spoke up again, clicking her pen and bringing her clipboard closer, "shall we get started?"

* * *

 

Oikawa was running behind two of his team members on their last run of the day.

"Do you think there's a way we could convince her to keep the skirt?"

"Pff, ask her yourself dude, I ain't doing that."

"No way! She's intimidating as hell!"

"Yeah, that's why I said I ain't asking her, she's on another level!"

Oikawa sighed, the end of his sigh turning more into a groan. His teammates didn't hear him and simply continued with their conversation.

Most of his teammates were distracted all day, focused more on trying to impress their manager than do any actual training. Sure, they did do what they needed to do, otherwise she would have gotten them in trouble, and honestly they were too intimidated not to comply with her orders.

It wasn't like they didn't do the work. It wasn't like they slacked off. If anything, his teammates were more in-check than ever when she played the role of their coach.

It was the effect she had on them that pissed him off. It was the effect she had on  _him_.

Oikawa and the last few of his teammates soon ended up back at the gym after their evening run, ready to pack up and go. He, however, decided that he needs to blow some steam off. After a short argument with Iwaizumi about 'overworking himself AGAIN', his friend gave in, telling Oikawa that if he doesn't send him a selfie in 30 minutes, where Iwaizumi could see that he's out of his gym clothes and is going home, he won't live to see tomorrow. Iwa also added that this is the first and last time he would ask for a selfie to be sent to him.

The boys left, leaving only him and Haruko behind. She stood next to the gym door, arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at him, asking a wordless 'Well?'.

"I'll practice serves for a little longer."

He turned around and grabbed a volleyball, heading towards the end of the court before Haruko could say anything. She let her hands down and let out a sigh, "Oikawa, I want to go home."

"Then go home."

She lifted her hands a bit, making a silent 'seriously?' movement, parting her lips. Out of all the days he had to be a little shit, it had to be today?

Oh, wait, that's  _every day._

"I can't go home without locking the gym, and I need to give the keys to Mukai-sensei tomorrow morning."

Oikawa almost told her to just leave the keys with him, but stopped. Right, like he's going to be doing her any favors.

"Well  _I_ need to practice." he spat, still on his way, not sparing her a single look.

_I can't believe Iwa left me to deal with this child on my own._

Haruko wasn't going to back down. She was just as stubborn as he was, if not more. She began picking up the leftover volleyballs and putting them away.

She watched Oikawa do a serve, and as the ball bounced off the court, she caught it and shoved it into the ball storage box, glaring at him.

He did another one. She caught it too, and shoved it into the box just like the first one. Oikawa squinted at her, furrowing his brows.

He served again, this time so dangerously close to her that she could feel her hair get picked up by the wind. She caught it again as it bounced off the wall, gripping it with more force than usual.

_Is he… is he trying to intimidate me? Is he fucking serious?_

She shoved the ball into the box again, glaring at him with more anger in her eyes than before. Haruko was too far away to hear him groan, glaring right back at her.

"Are you fucking  _done,_ Trashykawa?" she yelled over to him, seeing him have the last ball on the court. One more and she can shove the box into the storage room, locking it before he can come over, leaving him with nothing to practice with.

Seeing her being all high-and-mighty with one hand on her hip made his blood boil even more. So much for blowing steam off. Not only that, she had the audacity to talk to him with that condescending voice and nickname? That's a first.

_Don't._

Oikawa threw the ball into the air.

_Tell me._

He moved forward.

_What._

He jumped.

_To DO._

And he smacked the ball with all the energy he didn't even know he had left.

_OH SHIT._

His eyes widened and he flinched as he began to land, time slowing down around him as he realized what he had done. He launched the ball straight at her.

To Haruko, time had slowed down as well and her body began to move on its own.

_Now this stunt is low even for YOU, Oikawa._

She could have moved away. She had more than enough time to move out of the way. But that would make him feel like he won.

So instead she didn't take her eyes off the ball, brought her leg forward while bending her knees slightly, and put her arms together, breathing in momentarily to brace herself.

The ball hit her arms with a force she didn't think humans were capable of having and ended up knocking her backwards. She fell, catching a glimpse of Oikawa's face trailing from her own towards something above her.

A face so shocked, she wished she could take a picture of and frame to put on her wall.

Haruko trailed his gaze and looked above her, landing painfully on her butt while doing so, as if the ridiculous pain in her arms wasn't enough. Then she mimicked his expression.

The ball was above her. It went up. Not only did it go up, it did that in a beautiful fashion.

It was a near-perfect receive.

_Holy shit._

Both of them had the same thought at the same time, Haruko's followed by  _I can't believe that worked._

The ball landed a little bit in front of her and bounced, so she leaned over to catch it as it bounced off the ground the second time. She glanced over to Oikawa with the calmest, blankest expression she had, seeing him in the same position, as if unable to move.

She closed her eyes and helped herself up, brushing herself off like it was nothing. Holding the ball under one arm, she made her way towards Oikawa. What was just a few seconds seemed like an eternity to him, because she looked like she was definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent going to kill him.

Haruko stopped in front of him and held the volleyball with both hands, looking down at it with raised eyebrows. He parted his lips to say something, but nothing would come out, his thoughts all mixed up between 'I'm sorry', 'I can't believe you received it?', 'what the hell?', 'shit I went too far' and 20 other things. And none of them would come out.

He wasn't given any more time to think as Haruko shoved the volleyball into his stomach, making him grip it and wince from the pain. She shot him the deadliest glare he's ever seen.

"I'm your _manager_." Haruko spat, " _Not_ your maid."

She let go of the volleyball and turned around, heading towards the exit. "Have fun cleaning up by yourself."

Oikawa trailed her with his eyes and saw her dump the keys on the bench next to the door.

And then she was just… gone.

_That's… that's it?_

Oikawa cursed himself under his breath for going too far. What made him feel even worse was that that's all she said. And the back of his mind was yelling at him that she was only putting up with this for the team's sake.

* * *

 

The moment Haruko went around the corner of the gym she pressed her back against the wall and slid down, holding her arms between her thighs, letting out a loud groan from the pain. She was really, really hoping Oikawa hadn't followed her.

_Owwwwwwwww…_

It hurt like hell. How was it even humanly possible to launch a ball with such force? What was he, a monster?

Haruko rested her forehead on her knees.

Her pained face soon had the biggest shit-eating grin you had ever seen.

_But I looked so fucking cooooool._

She chuckled at her own ridiculousness. That was pure luck. She couldn't believe that actually worked, this whole ordeal could have went  _so_  wrong. The ball could have easily launched back at her face, and with that force it would have definitely broken her nose, and the asshole would have never let that go. But no, it worked out perfectly, and seeing Oikawa in the state he was in was worth the pain.

_Oikawa 0 – 1 Haruko._

Haruko slowly stood up, shaking her arms a bit, as if trying to shake the pain away, but that didn't work. She was bound to wake up with two huge bruises where the ball had landed.

She started making her way towards the building with the changing room, thinking the event over. Sure, it worked out to her advantage, but the fact was that the asshole had launched a ball at her out of rage. Her satisfaction was slowly taken over by disappointment.

_For the team, Haruko,_ she inhaled,  _for the team._

She changed back into her clothes, leaving the skirt on a chair in the changing room just like the girl had asked, and put on the hoodie she had borrowed from Terushima in the morning – it was getting cold outside, so she thanked him in her head. Borrowing it was a good idea.

She walked towards the exit of Shokey, seeing students here and there still studying and chatting. Some she recognized from other clubs, and soon bumped into a few girls from the baking club who had stricken up a conversation with her. Not wanting to be rude, she stayed with them for a bit.

* * *

 

Haruko sat down on a bench just outside of her university and leaned her head back, taking in the evening breeze. It was getting dark. Hands in the hoodie's kangaroo pocket she sighed again, trying to relax before making her way home. She had been on her feet way too long, she hadn't been home since Sunday night, and what happened at the gym took a toll on her both emotionally and physically.

After she said goodbye to the baking club girls she decided to give herself a moment to just exist. Nothing else. Just be there.

Haruko opened her eyes for a split second and shut them back up, cursing in her head. She couldn't have a single moment without some drama or other bullshit happening, could she?

"What do _you_  want?"

"...Okay, shit, if I come here to apologize can you at least not make it harder with the attitude?"

She opened her eyes again and looked at Oikawa who she had noticed with the corner of her eyes a second ago. He had his normal clothes on and had his messenger bag slung over his shoulder. And those goddamn glasses.

"Wow." she said, trailing Oikawa as he sat down next to her, not sparing her a single look, "I'm torn between asking you how you can tell me not to have an attitude after that stunt, and between asking you where you learned to apologize like that. Take your pick."

Oikawa rolled his eyes, trying to suppress his breathless sigh turning into a groan. She wasn't going to make this easy, of course she wasn't.

"Look, I admit I went too far, this is the best I can do-"

"Well then your best isn't good enough," she cut him off, "especially after lashing out at me for no goddamn reason."

Oikawa glared at her, "Take it or leave it."

"I'll leave it, thanks." she said, looking into nothing ahead of her.

"Oh for fuck's sake, why do you have to be such a bitch when I am really trying here?"

He almost regret saying that when she shot her gaze back at him. "Ex-CUSE ME?"

Oikawa closed his eyes and cursed at himself for going off at her. Again.

"You have the fucking audacity to call me a bitch after you launch a volleyball at me? I don't remember signing up for target practice where  _I'm_  the goddamn target. You pull that shit again and I'll make sure you regret it."

"Did…" Oikawa rested his arm on the back of the bench and tugged one of his legs under the other, facing her with his whole body, "…did you seriously just threaten me?"

Haruko mimicked her pose, not wanting to back down. "Yes, I did."

"Wow, you and what army?"

"Your teammates."

Oikawa was taken aback by that one. He furrowed his brows for the billionth time today. She was right. She had the full power to turn their teammates against him. He knew that for a long time, he just didn't expect her to actually use that on him, even if at the moment it was just a threat.

_You know what? Fuck the apology._

"Oh, I'm soooo sorry," he said with the most sarcastic voice he could pull, "I didn't want to upset you! I really thought Ike-chan would loooove to spend some time  _alone_  with me!"

Oikawa had really hoped to catch her off guard with that, but instead, his last hope of her not knowing that he knows was shattered right then and there.

"Oh my god. I fucking knew it. I knew it. I knew this was all about that. You actually still think I'm doing this for you, don't you?"

Okay, she definitely knew he knew. They both knew that… that they both knew. They knew.

"As if you gave me any reason to think you're not." Oikawa said, squinting at her.

"Are you fucking KIDDING me?" she threw her hands into the air, "You mean that you actually believe that I've been working my ass off, while also dealing with your dumbass antics, just to bang you?"

Oikawa resting his head on his hand only annoyed her more, "Again, never gave me a reason to think otherwise."

"WOW. Listen here, you little  _shit_ , the only reason I didn't tell you that I knew you were lying was out of good heart, thinking you would confess you were."

"Wait, hold on," he sat up straight again, "are you seriously trying to put the blame on me? I'm sorry, last time I checked, I wasn't the manipulative bitch who was ready to use others to her advantage?"

"Ohhhh my gooood, will you get over that already? Like, have you seen yourself in the mirror? So what if I wanted to get with you the first time I saw you, so did a lot of other people, except that I was the only one to actually take action on that. And shit, okay, maybe it was a shitty thing to do, but if I could go back I wouldn't change a thing – my dumb decisions led me to where I am. And I'm happy with where I am, all apart from having to deal with  _you_."

Oikawa leaned closer to her, nearly growling at this point, "That doesn't change the fact that you were being selfish, and on top of that, judgmental. How about this: don't talk shit about people when you don't know them? Have you considered that before calling me a playboy, especially when you yourself wanted to _fuck me_ to, I don't fucking know, feel less lonely or some shit?"

Haruko's shoulders dropped slightly, making Oikawa realize he hit a nerve. The rational part of him wanted to undo that, but the angry part of him was overpowering any rational thought and was only trying to do as much damage as it could.

"You know what, screw you for that one, Oikawa. Take your own fucking advice instead of being hypocritical, and don't talk shit about people when you don't know them."

"Really? Again, you're putting the blame on me when _you_  were going to use me as a boy-toy? Don't try to turn this around when you're  _clearly_  in the wrong."

"Oh, and you're a fucking angel, aren't you? Instead of confronting me about it, you were riding the situation for  _weeks_  only to benefit yourself. How is  _that_ not using someone to your advantage, huh?"

Now it was time for Oikawa's shoulders to drop.  _Shit._

"Okay. Fine. It is. But the difference between you and me is that I'm not the one who started it. I only did that out of… fuck, I don't know, frustration? Or revenge or some shit?"

"Hang on, hang on, how am I the one who started this? If you wouldn't have read my diary, if you had  _any_   _fucking respect_  for people's privacy, none of this would have happened! We would be a nice, happy team, but no, instead you had to pry and find out about something that wasn't even valid anymore! Not only that, you had to be a dick about it!"

Both of them were getting closer and closer to each other throughout the whole argument, standing their ground (or sitting, in this case) like animals. Both of them couldn't believe that the other party was convinced it's their fault.

To Oikawa, it was unreasonable that he was to blame when she had been selfish, manipulative and judgmental, even if that had changed over time.

To Haruko, it was unreasonable that she was to blame when she had been working so hard to make up for her past mistakes, and when  _he_  was the one lying and _actually_  using her in the end.

"You're a selfish bitch, you know that?" Oikawa growled, pushing her forehead back with his own.

"And you're a lying prick, so I guess we're even." she pushed him back, staring into his eyes.

The two were breathing heavily, silence following, but neither backing down.

After he felt her breath on his skin, two things happened.

First, Oikawa realized how close he was. Second, something inside him clicked.

His eyes darted down to her lips. Without even thinking, he leaned in.

Haruko, however, reacted very quickly and shot back, eyes wide, and stood up. "Are you  _fucking kidding me_  right now?"

Oikawa snapped out of it at her words, unable to move or even look away from the empty seat in front of me.

"Are you  _that_ high and mighty that you need  _to test_  if I'm saying the truth about hating your ass?" she yelled, "What did you expect from that? That you'd kiss me and I'd confess some shit like being head over heels for you? Cute,  _real_  cute. I thought launching a volleyball at me was a low blow even for you, but this one tops it."

She shook her head and began walking away, "Fuck you, Oikawa. Great apology, by the way."

* * *

 

Oikawa sat on the bench for a while after the girl had left, trying to process what just happened. Slowly snapping out of it, he brought his hand to his mouth.

He almost kissed her.

'… _that you need to test if I'm saying the truth?'_

Everything would be fine and dandy… if he had  _actually meant to do that._

* * *

 

**AN:**  I PROMISE I'LL FIX THIS TRAINWRECK IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

Also wow this chapter is twice as long as the others. We hit the bit in the summary, yay :D

You have no idea how excited I am to write the next chapter, but it will probably be a week or two because my uni deadlines are coming up.

As always thank you for the reviews / favs / follows / comments / kudos! I see each and every one of you :')


	13. Chapter 13

**98 percent**

**Chapter 13**

It was clear that Oikawa had been avoiding her all week. And to be fair, she was too. Neither of them had said a thing about their argument to the team and did their best to act normal. Neither of them had even spoken to each other ever since, not directly at least, only between teammates, so it was a wordless agreement to keep their differences between themselves.

For the team.

Thursday was the worst, which was sad because for a while it was Haruko's favorite day to spend with her new favorite person. Now it was the complete opposite. The lecture that neither of them had ever cared about suddenly turned into the most 'interesting' thing in the world, so 'interesting' that neither of them would take their eyes off their notes and the professor, despite sitting next to each other for 3 hours with very few breaks. Unsurprisingly, the class was full of students looking for easy credits, so they had to stick to their old seats.

Haruko sighed.

This was…

So…

_BORING._

She hadn't even noticed how incredibly boring this class was. All because every single time she would spend the entire class talking to Oikawa. She wanted this stupid, awkward, unnecessary situation to be over already. Neither of them were completely right, they both made mistakes and said things they shouldn't have. A few times Haruko had almost worked the nerve up to ' _be the bigger person_ ' and begin apologizing, and each time she would see his smug face, remember how their last apology / make-up went, and quit.

She stretched her arms out, put them on a table and used them as a pillow.

_How much longer, uuuuuugh…_

The lecture had started just 20 minutes ago.

* * *

Oikawa eyed the girl next to him as she sunk her head into her arms. For a moment, when she had stretched beforehand, her hoodie's sleeves went up and he noticed two ugly bruises on her arms.

He felt horrible. For many reasons. One of them was, of course, those bruises. Those were 100% his fault. He felt bad for going too far, on several occasions actually, and had no idea how to  _properly_  apologize. Every time he would work up the nerve to talk to her  _at all_ , about any topic, he would remember how their last conversation went and give up. He was still angry, and on top of that…  _uncomfortable._

What he almost did that evening was still haunting him. Attempting to kiss her was completely unintentional. Oikawa had been avoiding her for the past few days not just because he was still angry, but because he didn't trust himself not to do something stupid around her. Not now, at least, not until this whole thing blows over.

Will it blow over though? And how much longer until it does? Because, honestly, this lecture is boring as hell and there's no way he can do this for the rest of the year.

Oikawa scanned the room trying to find some sort of entertainment that does not involve counting how many chairs are in the room and noticed Daiki looking at him from a few rows below. Most Thursdays Oikawa would forget he's even in this class.

He saw Daiki mouth a 'finally', figuring the boy had been trying to get his attention for a while now. Daiki held his phone in one hand and pointed at it with the other.

Oikawa took the hint and took his own phone out of his pocket, noticing a few messages in their group chat.

* * *

Daiki: Ikeda-san

Daiki: I-ke-da-saaaaaaan

Daiki: goddamnit is she asleep

Daiki: oh ok it looks like she is

Daiki: Oikawa

Daiki: Oikawaaaaa

Daiki: Oiks holy shit take your phone off silent mode for once

Daiki: do I have to throw something at you

Captain Asshole: WHAT

Captain Asshole: also who keeps changing my nickname, this one isn't even original

Daiki: FINALLYYYYY

Daiki: ask Ikeda-san if she's coming with us to the arcade today

* * *

Oikawa froze. They hadn't spoken in days, but no one else knew they were on no-speaking terms. If he buys enough time maybe she would wake up (is she even asleep or just resting?) and check her phone without him having to talk to her.

* * *

Captain Asshole: today?

Daiki: yeah dude

Daiki: did you forget?

Daiki: you forgot didn't you

* * *

He didn't forget.

* * *

Captain Asshole: okay now I can tell why Iwa-chan complains about double-texting

Captain Asshole: but yeah I may or may not have forgotten? Today when?

Daiki: oh my stars

Daiki: after class! the gym is having some refurbs done, there's no practice

Daiki: ask Ikeda-san

* * *

Oikawa was running out of trivial questions to ask sooner than he thought. At least questions that wouldn't make it obvious he's avoiding asking Haruko about it. Before he knew it, he was cornered.

* * *

Iwa: hey some of us have classes we actually care about

Maki: yeah my phone's become a vibrator thanks to you guys

Maki: I mean I'm guilty of double-texting too but come on

* * *

Oikawa saw Daiki turn back to him again, motioning him to ask Haruko about the arcade already.

How does he even begin? Hey, Ike-chan, I know we haven't spoken in days after that horrible argument but do you want to go to the arcade?

Sitting there doing nothing would make Daiki question things, so Oikawa sucked it up and poked her shoulder.

Haruko hadn't been sleeping after all, just resting, so she jumped at the sudden feeling, turning to the culprit next to her. She raised her eyebrow at him.

"I-Uh. Do you-?.. Um, you should check the group chat."

_WOW, THAT WENT GREAT. WHAT'S AWKWARD ANYWAY? SLOW CLAP, SELF._

"Oh. Okay."

Haruko took her phone out and focused her attention on it, making Oikawa do a mental sigh of relief he didn't have to continue talking to her. Soon enough he saw her typing and checked his own phone again.

* * *

Manager-chan: hey hey sure, I'm free

Daiki: ayyyyy

Daiki: the squad's back in town

* * *

Being around each other was a little easier with other people around. It took their mind off things they hate about each other. And maybe going out all together was going to get them talking again, maybe even move them towards leaving their differences behind? Positive thinking, right?

WRONG.

Bringing two stubborn, childish assholes to a venue of competitive games was… a mistake. Without even noticing they began competing against each other everywhere they went, from zombie shooters that were  _supposed_  to be cooperative, to racing each other towards the escalator.

But hey, at least they were talking again!

Well, 'bickering and throwing snarky comments at each other' was a more accurate description.

It all began with Iwaizumi telling the others how, when they were here last time, Oikawa had talked Haruko into playing Dance Dance Revolution with him and got her ass kicked. A few "yeah well I'm better at this and that" comments later, everything became a competition, with non-existent stakes becoming higher as time went on.

The group couldn't complain – it was definitely entertaining seeing the two 'fight to the death' on everything they did. There was the basketball machine, which, as an athlete  _and_  tall person, Oikawa had an advantage on, then there was pinball, which wasn't even competitive until Haruko got her score on the high-score table.

She refused to play DDR with him again, but a few 'chicken-chan's later gave into the taunts, resulting in yet another crumbling defeat. But why stop there? Haruko convinced him that even claw-machines can be competitive, and they took turns sinking their change into the claw machine until one of them, claw-machine-senpai Haruko, won a dog plushie.

She shoved the plushie at someone next to her without even looking, which happened to be Maki, who accepted the gift and gave the other guys a shrug.

"What's next?"

Those two were far gone in their own little world.

* * *

In the end they found themselves at the opposite ends of an air-hockey table, ready to battle, the rest of the group standing on the side, waiting for the show-down to begin. Daiki was keeping a scoreboard on his phone on how many wins and losses Haruko and Oikawa had on each thing they competed on (yes, even the escalator race), and at this point they were at a tie.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, those two idiots are made for each other." Iwaizumi whispered, not wanting to break the tension the two had created over the day.

"Hey, yeah, they've been acting weird for a few days now, haven't they?" Maki asked, making Iwa raise his eyebrow.

"Hm? They have? I mean, I don't know about Ikeda-san, but Shittykawa has always been childishly competitive. Though…"

He trailed off to the sound of the first plastic air-hockey puck being hit on the table.

_I haven't seen him this fired up for a while now…_

* * *

"GAH!" Haruko yelled, eyeing the score that had just changed into 5-6, Oikawa's lead. He was losing it on the other end of the table.

"Did you- did you just hit that into your  _own goal_ pff-ahaha!"

She groaned, but wasted no time and turned his distraction against him.

DING!

She didn't even bother doing any trick shots, any diagonals, just hit the puck straight into the middle while Oikawa was gripping the table and laughing.

6 – 6.

"Wh-HEY! No fair, I wasn't ready!"

Haruko watched him take out the puck from his side of the table and place it down, agitated. She smirked, ready to finish this. "Oh don't talk to me about being fair."

"Tch. Not like you'd listen to me anyway." he snarled, hitting the plastic puck.

"What's  _that_ supposed to mean?" Haruko squinted, hitting it back and gripping her paddle tighter.

The boys next to them were starting to have trouble following their increasingly fast movements and the puck. Iwaizumi looked to the side where one of the staff members was clearly glaring at them. He then pointed at the side of the air hockey table, which had a "Please Do Not Hit The Puck With Excessive Force" sign on it, each word capitalized for some reason.

Iwa then turned back to the two players who were raising their voices and force as they went on. Their friendly rivalry was turning into something more than that.

"Uh, guys?"

"Oh PLEASE, you wouldn't know what _fair_  is if it was standing right next to you!" Haruko yelled over the loud 'ding' noises, both completely ignoring Iwaizumi, or, rather, not hearing him at all.

"Yo, you might want to calm dow-"

"You're one to talk when all you've been doing are trick shots!" Oikawa shot back, hitting the puck with even more force than before.

"Guys."

"Oh you and I _both_  know this isn't about the game, I'm not blind Oikawa, and neither are you!"

"GUYS."

"Hey, look at the bright side, this is the first time you're actually  _right_  about something!"

"Dude, Iwa, they're gonna break the damn thing." Maki whispered, though no whispering was actually necessary seeing as they couldn't even hear Iwaizumi yelling at them.

"Oh and you're never wrong!"

"Please, enlighten me about a time I was wrong!"

Were they arguing? Yes. Were they too fired up? Yes. Were they taking the game way too far? Yes.

Were they smirking at each other and, somehow, were still having the time of their lives? Absolutely. The two were so focused on getting on each other's nerves it was actually becoming fun.

At least until other people started noticing it. Other people being Maki, who of course, had to make a nasty comment on everything.

"Oh, just  _fuck already_!"

For a split second Oikawa lost his composure and hit the puck served to him at an awkward angle. Haruko panicked as well and made the angle even worse.

The wobbly air-hockey puck flew to the side of the table and caught on the edge, flying out of the boundaries. Before anyone could react, the puck hit something and made a 'thump' noise followed by a loud groan.

Eyes wide, the two players gasped dropping their paddles on the table and quit their game.

"Shit, get an ice-pack!"

* * *

"Iwa, I am SO sorry!"

Haruko was holding the ice pack on Iwaizumi's forehead as he was sitting on the stairs outside the arcade, tilting his head back. Oikawa was standing next to his friend as well.

"Seriously, Ike-chan, you need to be more careful…" he murmured. Clearly, he was upset about his best friend getting hurt, but seriously? Now?

She felt Iwaizumi take hold of the ice pack himself and she let go, turning to Oikawa, "What do you mean  _me_?"

"The puck flew off _your_  paddle didn't it?"

"Yeah, the puck  _you_  sent wobbling my way!"

"Oh, yeah, of course you're putting the blame on me again!"

"Why are you  _so_ -"

"WILL YOU BOTH  _SHUT UP_?"

The two flinched and shot their gazes at a very on-the-edge Iwaizumi. He stood up, still holding the ice pack on his forehead, and continued.

"I don't know  _what_  is going on between you two, and frankly I don't want to know, but you've dragged me into it. And if you keep at it you'll drag other people into it as well, so sort out your differences, for fuck's sake.  _Before_ anyone gets seriously injured. You're lucky the puck didn't hit my eye or some shit."

Oikawa and Haruko stood there with their lips pressed and after a pause, spoke up together.

"Sorry, Iwaizumi."  
"Sorry, Iwa-chan."

They glanced at each other. They were still angry at each other, both for what happened on Monday and for what happened just now. But they were too tired from competing against each other all day to actually have any of that anger show on their faces. That, as well as actually feeling really bad about nearly knocking Iwaizumi out.

"Good. That's a start." Iwa sighed.

The entire walk home neither of them said a word.

* * *

**AN:** IWA I'M SORRY

Okay so I miscalculated and this isn't the "I'll fix things" and "I'm excited to write this" chapter, it's the _next one_  for sure haha. I would have continued into it but it's late and I had my deadline this morning (I submitted everything all good fam) and I'm tired :x I was gonna update on Saturday actually but impromptu Halloween weekend happened oops haha.

Anyway this was still fun to write! And yes, that air-hockey thingy that you hold is actually called a paddle. I googled it.

I have a week off uni now so expect The Update soon! Maybe even tomorrow, who knows.

(hey hey also nsfw in like 2 chapters ;) also nsfw stuff is kinda gonna be one of the main things driving the plot, so very in advance warning for those of you not into that)


	14. Chapter 14

**98 percent**

**Chapter 14**

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Haruko took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I'm gonna go out there, serve her a drink, and I'll be fine. It's fine."

Kamiya, her manager, gave her a concerned look.

"You don't look fine, Haruko. You don't have to, I can serve her and she won't even know you're here."

"No. I have to. I'll have to do it eventually if she keeps coming here."

"Ikeda-chan, not to be a self-proclaimed therapist here, but it just sounds like you're looking for an excuse to talk to her."

Haruko stood up and started heading out of the break room.

"Come on. Break's over, isn't it?"

Kamiya sighed and shook her head, following her employee out the door, knowing this won't end well.

* * *

"Haruko?"

The bar was filled with garage rock music from some crappy band that had a gig that Friday. It was unbelievably loud and obnoxious (and bad), making it difficult to hear what the customers were saying.

Yet her voice was clear as day, making Haruko shut out any other noise around her. It's been so long since she's heard her voice.

"I… I didn't know you work here."

Everything Haruko tried so hard to forget and shut out was banging on the door of her mind, begging to let it back in.

* * *

"Ikeda-chan? What are you doing here on a Saturday..?"

"I took Maho's shift."

Silence. Kamiya sighed.

"You're being self-destructive, you know."

"…I know."

* * *

Haruko has worked three evenings in a row before, but that was during the summer when she had no university. Her exhaustion wasn't just physical, it was mental, too. Especially mental. Her manager told her she could take the Sunday off if she wanted to, but Haruko refused and dragged herself to the bar, even though she was on her last legs.

Kamiya was there as usual. Their manager insisted on working all weekend and having the weekdays off, seeing as the weekends were the busiest days, excluding Sunday. Haruko wondered if she sleeps in the bar.

She greeted her coworker who was just about to leave and put her things away in the break room. Kamiya was alone at the front of house when Haruko showed up, though it's not like she needed much help with customers anyway. She gave Haruko shifts on Sunday evenings just to help close up the bar quicker.

"Hey hey, how are you feeling?" Kamiya asked.

"Hey, I'm fine, how have… things been?"

Kamiya finished serving a customer and turned to her employee who was spacing out, eyes darting around the bar, clearly looking for someone.

"She's not here."

Haruko glanced over to her manager meeting her once again concerned face.

"Right… Sorry." she shook her head, trying to focus on working.

Trying to focus after such a horrible week (in more ways than one) was, to say the least, difficult. Every single time the door would open and a new customer would walk in, Haruko would nearly snap her own neck turning to see who walked in.

Finally, someone familiar walked in. Though they weren't the people Haruko expected to see.

"IKE-CHAAAN!"

Haruko watched Iwaizumi nearly drag his best friend to the two bar seats right in front of her as she was wiping a glass, both eyebrows raised in amusement at the two boys.

" _What_  are you doing here?" she wanted to follow up with an 'And who drinks on a Sunday?', but then remembered her own Sunday night outing.  _Nevermind._

"Weeeeell," Oikawa began, putting his arms on the bar, "We were bored of our usual place, and then Iwa-chan remembered you work at The Old House, and now we're here!"

He was being incredibly cheerful; Haruko figured he had to be at least a little bit drunk to be this nice to her, considering all that happened.

"Okay," Iwaizumi said, "now here's my side of the story – we got  _kicked out_  of our usual place, thanks to the idiot next to me, and then said idiot  _whined_  for around twenty minutes that we go here because, and I quote, 'Ike-chan works there, we HAVE to go'."

Haruko chuckled as Oikawa complained about being called out. For a moment, it felt like nothing had changed and they were back to how they were when they met. Things were so good back then.

"Ooh, who's this?" her manager asked.

"Oh, right, these are the guys from the volleyball club I told you about. Two of them at least – the glasses boy is Oikawa and that's Iwaizumi." she gestured at them respectively, "Guys, this is my manager, Kamiya."

Haruko served the two boys drinks, actually feeling happy to see them. Iwaizumi, at least. And to be fair, Oikawa was being a decent human being too, albeit probably only because he's tipsy, but she had no space in her head right now to start yet another argument with him, as long as he doesn't start shit either. She knew he won't – Iwaizumi was right there and surely he would scold the both of them for it.

Haruko eyed his forehead. The light was dim, but there was definitely still a mark there from the arcade incident. Never again.

As usual, Sunday was slow, so Haruko was spending most of her time chatting with the boys. Every so often a customer would come in and she would go away to serve them, and sometimes Kamiya would take over the conversation,  _very obviously giving Iwaizumi sly looks, oh my god Kami-chan, not again._

The night was actually going well. And you know what that means - it all, of course, had to go to shit. Because apparently, that's how the world works.

Haruko was squatting down next to the mini-fridge behind the bar, putting some drinks away, her back turned to the two boys behind her.

"Hey, isn't that Karasuno's old manager?"

Haruko froze. She finally showed up, third day in a row. Shimizu Kiyoko.

"Oh shit, yeah. I remember I tried getting her number once, she completely ignored me…"

Haruko snorted. "Yeah, I bet she did."

Oikawa squinted at the sudden outburst from her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Haruko didn't spare either of them a single look, stood up and made her way to the middle of the bar where Kamiya was.

"Ikeda-chan, she's he-"

"I know."

Her manager looked back at the counter she was wiping. "Do you want me to..?"

"No. I got this."

Kamiya resisted her urge to shake her head.  _You said that last time, too…_

Haruko took a deep breath.

"Oh, Iwaizumi-san, Oikawa-san. Wasn't expecting to see you here."

Before either of them could reply, Haruko did it for them.

"They're from my team. Hey again, Shimi-chan. What'll it be?"

"Hey… Um, two long islands, please." she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Focused on making the drinks for the woman in front of her, Haruko completely forgot about the two boys next to her.

"They… know each other?" Oikawa whispered to his friend, eyeing the girls.

Iwaizumi shrugged. "I guess so."

"So… your team? You joined the volleyball club?"

_God, her voice is going to kill me._

"Yup. I'm their manager."

Haruko made the mistake of looking up. Kiyoko was smiling.

"I'm… glad to see you're doing well."

Haruko's face dropped at the drinks she just finished making, and before handing them over, she realized she can't deal with this any longer. Kiyoko has been coming here for days. Not knowing why was killing her. Haruko snapped.

"Why… do you keep coming here?"

She knew asking that was bound to be a mistake, but the flicker of hope that Kiyoko maybe, just  _maybe_  was here to see her was overpowering everything else.

But Kiyoko's smile disappeared immediately, replaced with a small sigh no one could hear. Haruko wasn't even looking at her. Kiyoko put one hand behind her neck, trying to figure out how to put this… lightly.

"Haruko,"

The girl nearly exploded at the sound of her name coming from Kiyoko. So did Oikawa and Iwaizumi who were trying their best to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping the entire time. "They're on a first name basis..?" Oikawa whispered.

"I'm sorry." she continued, "I honestly didn't know you work here. It's just that… my girlfriend really likes it here…"

Haruko's heart dropped, her grip tightening on the drinks she just made.

She couldn't look up at her. "Right. Sorry."

She lifted the two drinks and placed them on the bar, trying her best not to shake. Kiyoko took them in her hands, trying to find something she could say. But nothing came out, and after mumbling a small 'mm' she left.

Oikawa watched the girl walk away, trying to process just what all of that was about. He squinted at Kiyoko's retreating figure, and then turned back to Haruko to ask exactly that.

Instead he was met with a sight that made his words get stuck in his throat.

The girl he thought was completely indestructible… was falling apart right in front of him.

Her back turned to the bar counter, she was gripping the edge of the shelf below with all her might, clearly fighting tears back.

Oikawa's eyes widened. He shot back to the spot where he saw Kiyoko last, although the woman was long gone. Then shot back at Haruko.

"…Oh."

Iwaizumi was also slowly coming to the same conclusion, although before either of them could think of anything to say, Kamiya swooped in and dragged Haruko away, leaving a very confused customer that she was serving behind.

As soon as they were far enough from everyone else, right at the edge of the bar, Kamiya spoke up.

"Break room. Now. All the way until closing time. Black coat, inside pocket."

Haruko, voice breaking, was about to protest. "But-"

"No buts. I'll call you if I need your help, you know it's been dead all evening. As for the other thing, you definitely need it more than me. Just make sure to turn the smoke detectors off. Now go."

Haruko nodded and was soon gone out of sight. Kamiya went back to the customer she left out of nowhere and apologized, and once she was done serving him she couldn't continue ignoring the piercing gazes from the two boys that were still at the bar, having their –nth drink.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not my story to tell."

"We… kind of started putting things together ourselves by now." Oikawa said. "At least give us the basics before we start assuming something we shouldn't assume."

"What do you mean we..? I'm not the one being all up in someone else's business." Iwa grumbled. Although if he was honest, he was curious too, but his curiosity came from being worried about their friend.

The bar manager rolled her eyes. They were Haruko's friends, after all, they might know how to help. She did talk about them a lot,  _especially pretty boy over there._

"Alright, fine. But I only know the basics myself."

She made them two more drinks and leaned on the bar.

"Last Sunday that girl, Kiyoko, had apparently come in – I didn't even see her, I just saw Ikeda-chan freaking out and dragged her into the break room. She took the rest of the night off, and then Monday evening she messaged me asking to call her when I have a minute, so I did. She kept apologizing for leaving me to worry and disappearing like that, honestly that girl…" Kamiya shook her head, "Anyway, after that she gave me the shortest explanation she could give – that's her ex-girlfriend from high school, she thought she got over her, but when she saw her after so long… well, she realized she didn't. That's all I know."

After a moment Kamiya sighed.

"We're all bitter over someone. But Ikeda-chan… I think there's a lot more to the story. I've never seen her act like that."

The three were silent for a while, and soon after Kamiya went to serve a customer.

* * *

Oikawa stood outside at an alley behind the bar, trying to get some fresh air after having one drink too much. It was dark, it was cold, and it was raining. Kamiya let him out through the back door to get him out sooner, quote, 'before he throws up inside her establishment', but told him not to hang around back there – the only dim light source was from the bar windows, and people  _have_ been mugged there. But Oikawa only needed a few minutes, so what's the worst that can happen?

He looked up at the rainy sky, thinking about the image he can't get out of his head. Haruko had been gone for about two hours now and the bar was going to close soon.

_Just what happened between you and Shimizu?_

Oikawa wanted her to come back. Come back to the bar and come back to being herself. The way she was breaking down back there… he felt his own heart smash into pieces when he saw her like that.

All arguments aside, he was slowly admitting to himself that he admired her for how strong she was. This was a good reminder that she was also human – capable of making mistakes, and capable of getting hurt.

Just as he was about to go back, he heard footsteps on his right, where the back door was.

"Hey there…" he said, nervously. The dark figure was definitely a man, but he was unable to make the face out.

"Hey."

The dark figure had a knife out.

"Ah shit…" Oikawa muttered, taking a defensive stance. As defensive as he could, anyway – he wasn't the one with a goddamn knife. He couldn't even make a run for it because the man was standing right in front of the door and the alley had a dead end behind Oikawa.

"Give me everything you got and no one gets hurt."

"Dude, I left my wallet inside," Oikawa started, suddenly hyper-aware of the wallet in his back pocket, "I don't have anything on me."

"That's what they all say," the man growled, hand tightening around the knife, "but somehow I always find something on their dead bodies."

If Oikawa wasn't worried before, he definitely was now and his breaths became more erratic. He lifted his hands slowly, trying to find something to say and drag time out, to either figure out a plan or have someone see them.

The latter happened before he could say anything.

The back door swung open and both men shot their gazes at the girl who had just taken a step outside. In a split second Haruko's eyes met with Oikawa's and darted over to the man in front of her.

Oikawa took a step forward, using his mugger's distraction against him. Fueled by fear of both getting hurt  _and_  seeing Haruko get hurt, he was ready to take his chances.

That, however, wasn't necessary and Oikawa stopped in his tracks. He had another image burned into his mind before he could act.

He watched Haruko grab the man's wrist, the one that had the knife, and take a swing at him with her other arm, with force he never knew the girl had. The man wasn't even given a time to react or groan – the moment Haruko's fist came in contact with his face, he fell to the ground, with the faint sound of the knife hitting the stone tiles surrounding him. He was out cold.

When Oikawa came back to his senses a few seconds later, he quickly walked over to the girl and stared at the man below them.

"…Holy fuck… How-"

"You saw nothing." she harshly cut him off. "And get back inside, this shit happens all the time back here, it's not safe."

Haruko turned around and went inside herself, and Oikawa followed her. He looked back at the man one last time before locking the back door, in complete disbelief that she was just going to… leave the guy there. His eyes shot back at the sharp sound of a door slam – Oikawa eyed the 'staff only' sign on it, faint smell of weed coming from that direction. He figured it's the break room, which she just went back into.

' _You saw nothing.'_

The moment Haruko swung at the man Oikawa had his eyes fixated on her own. Unlike him, it wasn't fear that drove her. It wasn't sadness, or frustration, or any emotion at all. It was nothing.

It looked like she had done that before. More than once.

_Just what happened… to you?_

Oikawa calmed himself down and started walking back to his friend. He knew his curiosity would get the best of him eventually, but for now, he was going to quietly celebrate _being alive._

* * *

"You have a good night, see you soon!" Kamiya waved to the last customer leaving the bar – all except for Oikawa and Iwaizumi who were still in their original spot.

"Here, catch!" she threw a pair of keys at Iwaizumi, who swiftly caught them with his right hand, "Lock up the front door, will ya? You guys can stay for a while longer and keep us company; any friends of Ikeda's are friends of mine."

He nodded and went to lock the door as Kamiya brought a bar stool behind the bar, positioning it in front of where the boys were sitting and grabbed a drink for herself – it was her bar, after all.

"You look a little shaken up, pretty boy." she whispered while Iwaizumi was away. "Something happen back there?"

It's been about a half an hour since the back alley event, Oikawa had calmed down but clearly not enough for no one to notice. He shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

"Alright, thought you just don't wanna tell you friend, but it looks like you don't wanna tell anyone. Suit yourself." she took a sip from her beer bottle and smiled at Iwa who had just come back and given her the keys.

As Iwa sat back down on the bar stool, Oikawa noticed the woman quickly type something on her phone, and soon after, lo and behold, Haruko showed up. As soon as she lifted her head, she was met with three pairs of eyes, one staring at her a lot more than the other two. (It was Oikawa. Duh.)

"Aw what, Kami-chan, you said everyone's gone?" she asked, tiredly.

"Well yeah, except these two, the place is locked. Here, chill for a while." Kamiya stood up as she was talking, opened up a bottle of cider for her and slid it over the bar. As Haruko caught it, she continued, "I'm not ready to go home yet, it's only what, 11pm? We have the cleaners coming in tomorrow morning, so we don't have much to do for closing, anyway."

Haruko nodded, but slipped the bottle off the bar into her hand and left them behind, walking to the sofa at the corner of the venue to have her drink alone.

"She's working for the third evening in a row." Kamiya spoke up, noticing the two boys looking back at their friend, "Not only that, this weekend probably took a toll on her emotionally, too. I can't really blame her for not wanting to socialize much."

They nodded making a small 'mm' noise of approval. A few moment later, though, Iwaizumi spoke up.

"I really think you should go talk to her."

Oikawa was a little taken aback by his friend's sudden suggestion. "Me? Why?"

"I don't know about Kamiya-san, but to my knowledge… If anyone would know what to say, it would be you."

After a moment Oikawa sighed. He knew exactly what Iwaizumi was talking about.

"Hey…" Kamiya spoke up, leaning on the bar and resting her chin on one hand, "I don't know what tall, dark and handsome here is on about, but if there's anything you can tell Ikeda-chan that could help, please do."

 _Handsome?_ Iwaizumi smirked at the girl.

… _Tall?_  Oikawa squinted.

"I'll even think about accidentally losing the records of your bar tab if it works." she said, smiling and taking out a few bottles from the fridge, handing them to Oikawa.

He looked back at Haruko who had just finished her own drink and plopped it on the table in front of the sofa. At least one part of her usual self was visible – she had stretched out on the sofa, her legs dangling over the right edge of it.

He owed her one, didn't he?

Oikawa groaned and took the two bottles Kamiya left on the bar in front of him.

* * *

Haruko had her eyes closed, still slightly high from smoking in the break room, focusing on the faint music coming from the bar's speakers. She wondered when her manager will finally invest in new speakers, their current ones were absolutely awful.

She gasped and shot her eyes open at the sudden feeling of someone lifting her legs up. The culprit, Oikawa, slid under her legs and sat down on the sofa, then put them back down on his lap.

Just like they used to sit together before everything went to shit.

He didn't say anything and simply gave her one of the bottles he had with him. Haruko whispered a small 'thank you', then they put their bottles together making them do a little 'clang' sound, and sat in silence for a while.

"So…" Oikawa eventually began, "You… and Shimizu, huh?"

Haruko sighed, irritated. "Look, Oikawa, if you're here to tease, or mock me about it-"

"I'm not." he interrupted. Haruko looked at him, realizing she's never seen his face be  _that_ sincere, ever. "Iwa-chan… thinks I might be able to help. Or if anything, relate, I guess."

Haruko snorted, "I really doubt you'd ever relate to the shit I've went through."

She wasn't sure if it was the weed residue, or the alcohol, but she had a nagging need to over-share.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But like Kamiya-chan said, we're all bitter over someone."

Haruko was silent, not knowing what to say. She sat up to have a sip of her drink, her legs still over Oikawa's lap, but his face much closer to her own now. She sat there looking down at the bottle she hand in her hands, sitting in between her legs.

"What… happened?"

With that, Haruko decided to let go, just for today.

She took a deep breath.

"When I was in my second year of high school, Kiyoko started attending Karasuno as a first year. The moment I laid my eyes on her… I couldn't get her out of my head. I went out of my way to become friends with her, and when I found out she's into girls, I asked her out the same day. To my surprise, she said yes. The problem was that I didn't know what I was getting myself into…"

Haruko shuffled around a bit getting herself comfortable and took another sip from her bottle.

"Kiyoko isn't just a pretty face. It's a bonus, yeah, but the longer we dated the more in love I fell. She's… amazing. She's caring, she's hardworking, she's passionate about everything she does, yet she's modest and gentle, and… Honestly, I could go on and on about her. She's perfect. She… made me happy."

Oikawa listened without interruption, worried about the lack of the word 'was'.

"And I guess as a teenager, completely head over heels for her, I didn't notice that things weren't as great as they seemed. About a year and a half in, I began noticing that something wasn't right. I noticed it too late, and one day she asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. Back then, I was happy to be going out with my girlfriend for a walk. Today, though, I realize that it was one of those 'walks' farmers take their old, sick dogs on before they take them to the shed and… well…"

"It was a quiet winter evening, probably one of the nicest winter evenings I can remember." Haruko chuckled, "She… broke up with me. That's pretty much it. It wasn't and ugly break-up or anything. She was being her usual self – kind and caring. She tried her best to make sure that I would take it well, which is exactly what killed me inside, and which is what she failed to do. She… tried to protect me by not telling me  _why_  she's breaking up with me."

She sat there for a moment, trying to gather her messy thoughts, though Oikawa didn't even dare to move a muscle, let alone rush her.

"To this day… I don't know what I did to make her break up with me. Or what I didn't do. Or if there was a part of me that was the deal-breaker. To this day, I don't know what's wrong with me. So… naturally, I assume it's everything. And that was my downfall."

She took another sip from her bottle and sat down normally, resting her legs at the edge of the table in front. Haruko didn't say anything else, indicating that's the end of the story.

But Oikawa knew better.

"There's more to it, isn't there?"

He watched her exhale slowly, put her bottle down on the table and lean back. She turned her head to him, making their gazes meet.

"Oikawa… I can't-…"

She trailed off getting lost in his eyes. They were different. They were completely different from the ones she would usually see, the ones she didn't trust.

She looked away and focused on her own knees.

_Just for today._

"If I tell you, you have to promise me to take this to your grave."

"I promise."

"No, I  _mean_  it." she said, looking at him sharply. "And also… I think I need something stronger before I go down that road."

Oikawa didn't say anything. He just nodded and went to ask Kamiya for drinks. Haruko looked over to the two of her friends they had left behind – they were hitting it off, although that was mostly thanks to Kamiya's flirting.

Soon after Oikawa came back with a tray of shots. A  _tray_.

"I… I meant one."

"Tell that to your manager, she insisted." he chuckled, sitting down on the sofa again. He took two shots from the tray and handed one to Haruko, who downed it without a flinch.

"Okay…" she exhaled, "So… After Kiyoko broke up with me, I was a mess. And that's putting it lightly. I… did a lot of stupid things as time went by. She broke me into pieces and I did everything I could to put myself back. I was drinking, I was smoking pot with college students, I… slept with some of them."

Haruko stopped, took a deep breath and grabbed another shot from the tray. After slamming the empty shot glass down on the table, she corrected herself.

"I slept with a lot of them. A lot of people in general. I didn't care who it was, guys, girls, anyone, I just… wanted to feel needed again. For any reason at all. Kiyoko made me feel so loved when she was with me, that, when she was gone, I felt completely lost and alone."

Oikawa shut his eyes spewing curse words at himself in his head, remembering their big argument. Knowing this he really wished he hadn't said some things.

"Hey." she said, grabbing his attention, "I know what you're thinking, stop it. You… didn't know."

He parted his lips wanting to say something, but went against it, wanting her to continue.

"So… Because I kept going to college parties, getting high and drunk instead of studying, and began skipping classes… I got left back on my third year. Which meant spending another year around Kiyoko. My parents were furious – they didn't know about me an her, only my sister did, she was a lot more accepting than they were, so to them this was completely out of nowhere. They thought I was 'going through a phase' or some shit. Thankfully we didn't end up in the same class; I would have honestly lost my mind, more than I already had at that point, anyway."

"I continued skipping classes for a while, and kept doing what I was doing, hooking up with random people, partying and so on. In one of those parties, I… met Terushima. You know him, don't you?"

Oikawa nodded.

"A lot of people… have a bad impression of him. What he went through before me is his own story to tell. But, even though we hit it off immediately, we didn't hook up. Well… I admit I slept with him once, but things got a little weird between us after that so we called it quits on that pretty much the next day. He's a good friend; we didn't let that come between us, though he still teases me about it to this day."

Oikawa sat there trying to fight the fact that he was… a little jealous.

"So, one day towards the end of the second semester I was having an extra bad day. I kept seeing Kiyoko all day, despite being able to avoid her most days, and my self-loathing was through the roof. I texted Teru jokingly telling him I wanna go on a road trip and just disappear for a while. To my surprise, he told me he might be able to organize that. Teru was going through some shit at that point too, thankfully he's okay nowadays, but back then he was just as reckless as I was, so we looked after each other. We… tried to, anyway…"

Haruko stopped and let out a sigh, more of a groan really, and reached for another shot. Oikawa noticed her hand was shaking.

"This… this is where I stop, Oikawa. As much as my drunk slash high self wants to trust you, I really can't. And… I don't think I'm ready to re-visit that road, cause… I almost died that night. And," she continued after a pause with a shaky breath, "I saw someone else die moments later."

"Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you, but basically, I did a lot of stupid things after Kiyoko broke up with me. After we came back from that 'road trip', Teru and I didn't talk much. It messed us both up,  _bad_. I decided I can't stay in high school any longer, I can't stay around Kiyoko, and I started studying again. The moment I graduated, though with barely passing grades, I picked the university farthest from Karasuno and moved out. I wasn't ready to move to a new city, but I had to move out of my parents' house at least. That's how I ended up here."

"Not seeing Kiyoko every goddamn day was doing miracles. For months I actually thought I was going to be okay. I was beginning to forget about her. Then, last week, for the first time in months… I saw her here and realized I hadn't forgotten anything. And guess what, I'm going to sound like a complete idiot now," Haruko continued with a sad smile, "cause a part of me actually thought she could be here for  _me._ "

"The night I saw her I completely freaked out and my automatic defense mechanism was to call Teru and hang out with him. Even if we hadn't spoken in ages, nothing had changed. That night helped me reset my brain a bit, and, I'll be honest the fight you and I had actually kept my mind off this too." she chuckled.

"But... then I saw her again on Friday and decided to confront her thinking everything will be fine. I'm a whole new person, right?" she smiled and gently shook her head, "The moment I heard her talk, I was back at square one. All the stupid shit I've done was suddenly replaced by her voice, her face, just…  _her_. And of course, my hopes that she was here to see me were going through the roof. Talking to her hurt like hell, because I felt like I was getting lost in her again. But I went out of my way to talk to her every chance I could get. She's… like a drug to me."

Haruko crossed her legs on the sofa and stared at the ground, feeling the lump in her throat get bigger as she went on.

"Fast forward to today, and, well, you saw what happened. She was here because her girlfriend is apparently a fan of The Old House." Haruko rested her elbow on one of her knees and sunk her forehead into her hand. She started silently laughing through tears. "Can you believe-.. How stupid and naïve I am to even think… she was here for me, oh my fucking god-ahahaha..."

Oikawa didn't interrupt. He knew that feeling. He knew she needs a moment to calm down and let her laugh and cry herself out. A minute later she sniffled and collected herself, leaning back on the sofa once again.

"You know what the worst thing is about being naïve? It's hitting the ground harder than anyone else would when things don't work out, because your head was in the clouds and you were floating on false hope the entire time."

The shots were kicking in slowly but surely, and as sad as that was, they helped Haruko calm down and bring her breathing back to normal. The two sat in silence for a while, and soon she felt Oikawa lean back onto the sofa too. She looked at him – his eyes were focused on the ceiling.

Finally, he spoke up.

"When… When I was in my third year of high school, I was dating this girl named Mao. She was in my class, one day we started talking, and eventually dating. And, just like you, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. At first, it started out like a simple high school fling, one of those that don't usually last, but just a few months in I was head over heels for her. We dated for just about a half of a year before she broke up with me. She said… I was too obsessed with volleyball."

"Well, that's a fucking lie."

Oikawa turned his head to the girl and gave her a questioning look.

"No offense dude, but you being obsessed with volleyball isn't really a secret? Didn't she know that comes with the package before you started dating..?" she pondered.

"She did." Oikawa said, focusing back on the ceiling, "That's why I never really believed her. Literally, two days later I found out she was cheating on me, and on top of that, apparently, most of my classmates knew. So not only did I lose the girl of my dreams, I was also betrayed by a lot of people I knew, all in the same week."

He sighed heavily before continuing.

"I asked Iwa-chan to tell the coach I sprained my ankle and I shut myself inside my house, mostly my room, really, for around a week. I told him what happened and he kept coming over, trying to make me go outside or at least get out of bed, but I was way too depressed to do anything. I would just… sleep on most days, for as long as I could, just so I wouldn't have to exist. That girl broke me. In more ways than one."

To Haruko's surprise, she saw his lips curl upwards.

"So, one day, Iwa-chan comes over yet again, I'm lying there in my sweatpants, he stops next to the bed and looks down at me and just goes… 'get up, I'm taking you on a date'. And I'm like… 'what?'."

Haruko couldn't help but chuckle, "You're joking?"

"No!" he shook his head, glancing at her, "I'm completely serious, and to my surprise, so was he. Iwa-chan repeated himself and I sat up, raising my eyebrow at him, and I'm like, fine, alright, he's probably gonna chicken out the moment I agree. This is just some poor stunt to get me out of the house. So, being in a state of 'I literally do not give a fuck anymore', I said sure, let's go."

"What happened after that was… honestly, the best week of my life. He actually went on several dates with me. Like, with hand-holding and everything, it was surreal. First time he insisted on holding my hand I literally started laughing, but he was dead serious. He got me out of the house. He took me to so many places I loved. He  _made me_  have a good time. He even won me a shitty stuffed toy at a fair we went to, which - and I swear if you tell anyone, I'm going to kill you – which I still have today. I kept it. As a reminder."

Haruko was getting lost in his story, how fondly he spoke of his best friend, and noticed his face take a more serious appearance again.

"The thing is, unlike you and me… Iwa-chan is the straightest person I know."

The two glanced over to Iwaizumi and Kamiya at the same time – it was painfully obvious the two were flirting.

"And at the end of the week," Oikawa continued, leaning back once again, "I was finally coming to a realization. He went out of his way to cheer me up. Seeing how far he was willing to go, just because he cares and wants to see me happy, was a good enough slap in the face that brought me back to reality."

"Iwa-chan quickly caught on when I went super quiet. We were out that evening, he was walking me home. I turned to him and I was met with an 'are you  _done_?' face and… well, I couldn't help but start laughing and frantically nodding." he smiled, "That moment he said something I had honestly missed hearing – he practically yelled out 'thank fuck', followed by 'how can anyone date you for more than two days' – and that threw me into an even bigger laughing fit, I swear, I was literally holding a sign post so I wouldn't fall down…" he said giggling.

"Now thaaaat's the Iwaizumi I know." Haruko chuckled.

Oikawa sat up normally and reached for the two last shots they had in the tray in front of them. He handed one to Haruko.

"I know that I can't compare to what you went through, especially when I don't even know the half of it, but my point is that…  _a lot of the time we become too focused on the people we've lost and forget about the people we still have in our lives._ "

He brought his shot glass to hers and made them do a little 'clink' before downing it.

Haruko, though, was too lost in his words to react – she was staring down at the tiny glass in her hand, thinking them over. After a while, Oikawa snapped her out of it.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" she lifted her head and was met with Oikawa raising his eyebrow, smiling, "Oh, yeah, right."

She blinked and downed the shot as if it was water, then put it on the table. Part of her wanted to recover from their heavy conversation, and part of her was really, really enjoying talking to someone like this. This time, being back at square one was a good thing – they were talking to each other again as if they had known each other for years.

It was time to fix things.

"God, I am so sorry…" she breathed, shaking her head.

Oikawa was taken aback a bit, "What- for what?"

"For what I did, Oikawa. I was an asshole, I was judgmental, and selfish, and so on, I am really sorry. And I'm being honest now – I really did drop all my shitty plans like two days after I actually met you. You're… you're a really good person." the alcohol was really kicking in at this point, so it was a lot easier to say these things than it usually would be, "And you really didn't deserve all the shit I gave you. I really missed talking to you, man."

Oikawa's face softened and he finally let go of the breath he was holding while she was talking. It was his turn now.

"I'm sorry too, Ike-chan… This whole thing blew up to be a lot worse than it could have been if I would have just confronted you instead of being an ass… I missed talking to you, too. And I'm sorry about a lot of things I said…"

He trailed off, looking at the ground, and this was the first time Haruko saw him feeling genuinely guilty.

"Truce?" she said, smiling at him.

He lifted his head and looked at her. Until then Oikawa didn't realize how much he missed seeing her smile and couldn't help but smile himself.

He tucked one leg under another and sat down facing her, then stretched out his arms to the sides, grinning.

"…No." Haruko chuckled, inching away from him.

He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, still grinning.

"I'm _not_  hugging you."

"Come ooooon." Oikawa whined, slowly moving towards her.

"Nuh-uh, go away-!"

Her sentence was cut off and turned into erratic laughs instead as Oikawa used his leg to boost himself towards Haruko and bring her down into the sofa under him.

"Oomph-" she breathed between laughs and started slapping his back, "Get off meee! You're heavyyy!"

"No!" he said, laughing into her shoulder, "This is a re-initiation into being my friend. Suffer."

"O-i-ka-waaaaa!" she whined under him, trying to knee him in the stomach with her free leg.

"Ow, ow, alright, okay, okay-" he said, lifting himself up, thus ending his 're-initiation'. She sat up too, fixing her hair and grinning at him.

"God, I forgot how touchy-feely you are. Honestly-oh!" she gasped, pointing her finger upwards. "Oh my gosh!"

Oikawa questioningly blinked a few times.

"This song! This sooooong!" Okay, the drinks have fully kicked in for sure, "I, oh my gosh, I used to listen to this all the time when Kiyoko broke up with me ahah-.." she said through giggles.

Oikawa stared at her for a moment, then burst into laughing.

"Hey! You don't see me judging your taste in music!"

"Pff- okay, first of all, I actually love Fall Out Boy too, un-ironically! So that's not what I'm laughing about ahaha-" he said, barely putting his sentence together, "It's just- It's just that I used to listen to the  _exact same song_  when my girlfriend broke up with me-ahaha!"

Haruko had a dumbfounded look on her face but soon burst into laughing herself, again. The laughing soon turned into a very crappy rendition of the lyrics they sang together.

As their singing went on, the music started getting louder and the two turned back at the bar where Kamiya was fiddling with their music player's volume, her and Iwaizumi smiling back at them. Haruko watched Kamiya take out a familiar remote and she frantically started waving 'no no no no' at her manager. "He doesn't know about the karao-"

"Oh my god you have karaoke!" Oikawa exclaimed as he saw the projector turn on, nearly falling off the sofa as he was getting up to go get microphones from Kamiya.

"Of course we do! It's a bar, we have karaoke, quiz night, everything! Tell your friends." Kamiya smirked, ready to enjoy the worst drunk karaoke she has ever witnessed.

"Nooooo-" Haruko whined as she followed him to the bar.

"Yeeeees!"

Oikawa shoved one of the microphones into her hand and grabbed her other one to drag her in front of the wall the projector was pointed at. Kamiya made sure to find a YouTube video of that song with lyrics and put it on for them.

"I don't know what your friend told Ikeda-chan…" she whispered to Iwaizumi, "But whatever it was, I'm glad he did."

Iwaizumi nodded and smiled at the two idiots singing their hearts out.

* * *

 _Anything you say can and will be held against you -_  
So only say my name,  
It will be held against you.  
Anything you say can and will be held against you -  
So only say my naaaame.

* * *

Haruko was a little shy for the first, maybe, three words. After that, the two of them let all hell loose and nearly yelled the lyrics on the top of their lungs, throwing in some dance moves into the mix. They danced on their own, together, and sometimes one of them would have to hold the other person up. Mostly it was Oikawa holding Haruko up – the girl was terrible at handling her alcohol. Whatever they did, though, was followed by smiles, laughs, and really terrible singing.

Soon, the song that used to bring them both down, became a song that would remind them of having the time of their lives in a bar after hours.

* * *

 _I want to teach you a lesson!_  
In the worst kind of way.  
Still, I'd trade all my tomorrows,  
For just one yesterday,  
For just one yesterday.

* * *

Their karaoke night didn't end after just one song, they took whatever terrible songs Kamiya threw at them and made them theirs. Eventually both of them ran out of breath and began losing their voices from all the singing. Or yelling. Mostly yelling.

"That was terrible!"

"Absolutely awful!"

Oikawa and Haruko turned back to Kamiya and Iwaizumi who were playfully booing them, and bowed while breathing heavily, making their  _performance_  come to an end. They went over to the other two and gave their microphones back.

"Okay, we can stay a little longer but you guys have to help me close up."

A simple task of wiping tables off and putting chairs up on them and the bar was incredibly difficult after the amount of drinks they had. Eventually though, they finished, which they could have done sooner if it wasn't for Oikawa's constant 'hey wait I don't work here' complaining.

After a while they were all sitting on the one bar area they left open, hanging out, dim light surrounding them. It was around 2am.

Haruko was sitting on top of the bar, with Oikawa in front of her on a bar stool, casually resting his chin on her knee every so often. Iwa was next to him, and the manager, Kamiya, was behind the bar on her own stool –  _someone_  had to be handing them drinks.

Some time later Iwaizumi left to the bathroom – the moment the door closed behind him Kamiya turned to Oikawa. "Hey, pretty boy."

He lazily turned his attention to her, getting used to the nickname. "Hmm?"

"How old is your friend?"

"Oh my god, Kami-chan…" Haruko breathed, knowing exactly where that's going.

"Eh? Nineteen, why?"

They watched Kamiya mentally count something in her head. She then nodded, reaching under the bar.

"Okay, great," Kamiya said, emerging from under the bar and slamming a bottle of vodka in front of them. "Here you go. Now scram." she added, sliding the bottle towards them and motioning her head towards the door.

Haruko groaned and chuckled at the same time, then slid off the bar top, grabbed the bottle and started heading towards the front door.

"Come on, Oikawa!"

"Wait, is she -hic- bribing us to leave?" he asked.

" _Now_ , dude." she said, motioning him to get up. He did so, still trying to process what is happening, and trying not to trip as he attempts to follow his friend. "I want to be out of here before Kami-chan gets physical – either with us or Iwa, and I'd rather it be Iwa." Haruko stated, holding a hand out for Oikawa to grab.

Holding onto each other they left the bar, only hearing Iwaizumi's faint voice of 'hey where are they goin-' behind them as the door closed. Snickering like children, they began going home together.

Oikawa wasn't going to let Haruko go home alone – despite the fact that she goes home at this hour all the time from work, and despite the fact that he was too drunk to protect her or even himself from any kind of threat. And considering that she packed quite a punch… she didn't exactly need protection.

If he was being honest, he just wanted to spend more time with her.

The cold air sobered them up just enough to be able to walk home without tripping every two steps, though the volume of their voices was still a little too loud. Besides that, the two were drinking vodka straight out of the bottle – Kamiya most likely gave them the bottle for Haruko to mix some drinks up, but neither of them cared much about that anymore.

What was supposed to be a fifteen minute walk home turned into a forty minute stroll, with them making a wrong turn  _twice_  – and for once Oikawa wasn't the one to blame because he didn't even know where Haruko lived.

Chatting, drinking and laughing away, the two were finally on a street that led straight to Haruko's apartment complex.

"Hey, hey hey hey." she nudged Oikawa.

"Hmmm?"

She dramatically held her phone in the air and pressed 'Play' on the YouTube video she had found. The song they originally sang in the bar was blasting through her phone speakers, making it a little distorted, but enough to get a snort out of Oikawa and get them singing again.

Clinging to each other they wobbled towards her apartment complex singing their hearts out once again, earning a few 'hey, shut the fuck up, people are trying to sleep' from the neighbors, which they completely ignored.

"Awww that's your stop." Oikawa started, breathing heavily, looking at the building she lived in, "I already miss you Ike-chaaaan."

"What, no no no, you're coming with me. There's no way you're going home alone when you're this wasted, you can sleep on the couch." Haruko grabbed his wrist and dragged him along, "Come -hic- on."

Thankfully, Oikawa didn't protest, though the moment they walked out of the fresh air and into the apartment complex, they were met with the heating inside, and the alcohol kicked right back in - it was really hard to walk again. Dragging Oikawa along, as well as using him as support for standing, Haruko made her way towards the elevator, mumbling that there's no way they're taking the stairs.

The elevator made a 'ding!' and the door opened in front of them – Haruko, humming their song, dragged Oikawa in and pushed the button for the 8th floor, and held onto Oikawa who was leaning on the wall, both breathing heavily. She leaned her forehead on his shoulder, still humming the song.

The elevator was… really slow. And shaky.

Oikawa put his arm around her shoulder for support and leaned his head back on the wall, closing his eyes and listening to her soft humming.

Everything was spinning.

"Hey." she muttered.

He lazily opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Did he space out?

No, they were still in the same elevator, still going up.

He looked down to find Haruko looking at him from the corner of her eye, still resting her forehead on his shoulder and holding his wrist for support. "Don't- Don't close your eyes, it'll make it bad-der… Worse. I mean worse." she chuckled. The girl then pulled away slightly, though not enough for Oikawa to let go – his hand was still wrapped around her shoulders.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

Haruko lifted both her hands to his face and took his glasses off.

"You don't need these if you're just gonna have you eyes closed." she teased, putting them on, "They look better on me anyway."

Oikawa stood with his lips parted slightly, starting to realize just how close she is.

And... starting to realize that he had nothing left to hate her for.

_Why do I always want to do something stupid when I'm around you?_

The song she was humming just a little while ago was stuck in his head.

He was… gone.

He started whispering the song as he moved his hands up to her face.

" _Anything you say can and will be held against you…_ "

He slowly took the glasses off her and held them behind her head, pulling her close enough to feel her breath on his lips. He didn't take his eyes off her own the entire time, not even for a second.

Haruko was getting lost in those eyes. They were curious, they were lost, they were… needy.

" _So only say my name, it will be held against you…_ "

She could have said anything. She could have pulled away. She could have done anything that wasn't what she did.

"Oikaw-"

He didn't wait. The moment he heard the first syllable of his name he pulled her in and closed the gap between them, making their lips meet.

* * *

Haruko woke up really early in the morning, shivering. She had no idea what could have gone on in that tiny brain of hers to think it's a good idea to sleep with nothing but her underwear when it's so cold – she reasoned she was probably drunk and warm when she went to bed, and her drunk self is not to be trusted in good decision making.

She was lying on her side, eyes half shut, her hand scurrying around the floor, looking for her phone. Once she finally found it she unlocked it, regretting the action immediately as she hadn't turned the brightness down the night before – staring at  _the sun itself_  was not the first thing she wanted to do when she woke up. Slowly, Haruko's eyes adjusted to the brightness, and, still squinting, she made out the time on her phone – it was 7am. Her alarm was set for an hour later, which is when she should be getting up to get ready for university.

Well, there was no way she was going to get any sleep when she was freezing, so if she wanted to get another hour of sleep, she was going to have to get up and find some clothes.

That was a difficult task. Baby steps – she sat up first, groaning.

_I really need to stop drinking on Sundays._

Before Haruko could continue on her journey of getting some warm clothes, her attention was caught by something shuffling next to her.

Or, rather, someone.

Her eyes darted immediately at the direction the sudden movement came from.

"OH SHI-"

She slammed her own hand over her mouth.

Wide-eyed, Haruko watched the person next to her shuffle slightly and continue sleeping.

Oikawa Tooru was in her bed.

* * *

 **AN:**  This chapter is about 4.5x longer than usual. I'm… I'm great at rationing my chapters, really. But in all honesty, I don't think I could have split this one. I'm really happy with how it came out. I even decided to change the summary to have a quote from this chapter.

Anyway it's NSFW time B) we need a flashback to what happened, now, don't we?

Also it's kinda hard to headcanon Iwa as a straight boi? But I realized I accidentally made at least 3 characters bi (Haruko, Oiks and Teru definitely) so I had to ration it out  _somehow_  lmao I'm sorry everyone is cute help me...

Also x2 growing up just means you get to experience all your teenage interests with less internalized shame! This includes fanfiction and fall out boy. Just One Yesterday is a  _good song_.

I'll see you all in hell, lads.

(Also x3: 100 kudos on ao3? And almost 40 reviews on ff net? Oh gosh? I've read such good fanfics and really thought mine is less than mediocre and you guys are really making me feel better about it I love you all, I'm really driven to take this all the way! We're only about halfway in actually.)


	15. Chapter 15

**98 percent**

**Chapter 15**

_Chapter note: sexual content. Work is rated M from this point on!_

* * *

Haruko slowly lowered her palm from her face, still staring at Oikawa. He was fast asleep  _and_  he had no shirt on. The girl sunk her head into her hands, mentally cursing herself.

_Oh god, I need to get out of here before he wakes up._

Banking on the possibility that he won't remember what happened last night, she tried getting up from her bed as quietly as she could. Her entire body felt like it had dry throat, but Haruko tried to ignore the hangover as much as she could – right now she didn't have the time for a full hangover experience.

The girl turned around one last time before she went downstairs. Oikawa looked really peaceful when he was sleeping.

Haruko shook her head and started going downstairs. Any pleasant thought was overpowered by panicking about what to do when they see each other at university. If he remembers, that is.

Considering what Oikawa looks like every day, he probably gets up really early to get ready, which meant his alarm was going to go off any second - Haruko prayed that it won't until she leaves.

_I feel like a criminal in my own apartment, ugh._

She did the essential get-ready things, threw on the first outfit she could find and left, deciding to do her makeup in the coffee shop near the university. The moment she took her keys in her hand, she realized there was a problem – she couldn't just lock him in.

Haruko went back inside and hurriedly scribbled on a sticky-note, stuck it on the door and left her keys in the keyhole, hoping no one will waltz into her apartment in between her leaving and Oikawa waking up.

She hurriedly made her way out of her apartment complex. It was windy, so the girl had to hold her scarf the entire way. She couldn't even take her bike – the keys from her bike lock were on the keychain with the rest of her keys back in the apartment.

_Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold…_

The coffee shop had just opened to the public, making Haruko and a few other people be the first customers to show up. She placed her order and impatiently waited for it on the other end of the counter, tapping her foot.

Haruko had about two hours to waste until her morning class and yet she was restless. She sat down by the window and tried to force herself to take her time with the coffee in her hands. She took her phone out a few minutes later, heart racing as she unlocked it, but there was nothing there. No messages, no notifications, nothing. Not knowing if Oikawa was still in her apartment was killing her. Was he even awake at this point? Did he remember? What's he thinking right now?

She leaned her head against the wall. Haruko had occupied a cozy windowsill seat and wasn't about to let anyone move her for the next two hours. She needed to collect her thoughts. About a lot of things, but mostly about last night.

* * *

_2:53am._

'Ding!'

The two slowly opened their eyes at the same time, unable to say anything. He felt Haruko's face slipping away from his hands, though she gently took one of them and led him out of the elevator – to no one's surprise, Oikawa didn't resist. He felt as light as a feather. Everything was still spinning.

You'd think he would have an infinite amount of thoughts running through his head, but his mind was completely blank. All he could do is focus on the girl in front of him, unlocking the door to her apartment, unable to take his eyes off her.

Finally, a single thought went through his mind.

_You kissed me back._

She led Oikawa in, both still in silence, and went behind him to lock the door. That gave him a moment to take in the surroundings – he was in a small apartment, there was a sofa and an entrance to what seemed to be a tiny kitchen on his right, as well as some stairs leading up to an indoor-balcony type of room. There was a desk underneath it.

The click behind him caught his attention and he turned around to meet Haruko's gaze again. In the dim light, he could see her part her lips to say something, but she stopped, looking away. She put the keys on some storage boxes stacked on top of each other next to the door.

By the time she reacted to Oikawa's movements, he was already in front of her. One hand gripping her hip, one on her cheek, he smashed his lips against hers again, pushing her against the door behind her. Haruko let out a small moan at the sudden action, making him pull back slightly. Was he being too forward? Too rough? Did he make a mistake? Was all this a mistake and-

The feeling of Haruko's arms around his neck cut off his thoughts.

"You're overthinking again, aren't you?"

He let out the breath he didn't even notice he was holding and pressed his lips against hers again, gentler this time. Though, once Oikawa felt her hand run through his hair, pulling him in closer, the kissing got rougher. He leaned his knee at the door between her legs, effectively pressing her to the door even more. The moment she slipped her tongue in, he was sure this was mutual.

It was also a huge mistake, probably, but at least it was a  _mutual_  huge mistake.

Something about playing with fire turned them both on.

Heavy breathing, soft moans and the smell of alcohol filled the apartment. Oikawa's hand ran down her butt to her thigh and he lifted her leg to his side in one rough motion, bringing her even closer to him. Haruko let out another moan and bit his lower lip.

As much as Haruko didn't want to admit, he was an amazing kisser. Not like she would tell him that anyway. Not directly, at least – her reactions were probably giving it away, but it was nearly impossible not to drown in his arms at this point. Her tongue piercing was adding something different to the mix, too.

"You were going to say something before…" Oikawa said between kisses.

"It's… nothing." she pulled back slightly, looking away.

Oikawa stopped for a moment and leaned his forehead against hers, looking into her eyes while she refused to look at him. Was she… was she actually flustered?

He smirked. This was too good.

He brought his hand under her chin and pulled her into a gentle kiss, before tightening his grip on her leg and jaw, surprising her. Haruko let out a small gasp and her eyes shot open to meet his dangerous ones.

"I'll get it out of you one way or another, you know."

He slightly yanked her head upwards, carefully enough not to hurt her, and bit into her neck. Hearing her let out a satisfied groan confirmed his suspicions. She felt him smirk on her skin.

"Tell me."

Oikawa being so observant was both a blessing and a curse. He was extremely quick to figure out that she liked things to be on the rougher side – what he was doing felt amazing, but it was also stripping her of her defenses.

Not hearing an answer, he bit her again and tightened his grip on her thigh – hearing her moan was like music to his ears. Oikawa said another muffled 'tell me', but in reality, he didn't even care what she was going to say before, it was just fun playing with her like this. Hearing her moan and groan because of what  _he_  was doing was beyond satisfying. He was getting… addicted to it.

Haruko felt him kiss the bite, but the gentle feeling was soon replaced with another bite, making her groan again.

"Mmm?"

"Ngh… It's really nothing…"

She felt his teeth sink into her skin a bit more – it was painful, but it was driving her crazy at the same time. That, and his husky voice.

"Gah… I'm not gonna-argh!"

Haruko was cut off – he sunk his teeth in even more. He wasn't buying it.

"Alright, alright, fine!" she felt him loosen his jaw a little, though not enough to let go of her neck completely. "It's just… I was trying to think of a way to… um…"

She trailed off, so Oikawa  _rewarded_  her for that by biting her harder again. With that, Haruko gave in.

"Ngh! Of a way to invite you upstairs!"

Satisfied with both his work and her answer, Oikawa finally released his grip on her. He put his arm above her, smirking at her.

"I hate you." Haruko murmured, looking to the side.

"Sure you do."

He kissed her again and after a moment whispered. "I'd… I'd carry you upstairs, but in the state I'm in I'm pretty sure I'd fall and get us both hurt…"

Haruko chuckled and pulled away, taking his hand.

Oikawa moved away and let her lead him up the stairs. The single glance she gave him while ascending sent him into overdrive. He wanted more – more of her voice, more of her skin, more of  _her_.

The moment they appeared upstairs Oikawa noticed the floor-mattress, which he assumed was her bed. Any other day he would question why on earth does she sleep on the floor.

Facing backwards to it, he grabbed Haruko's wrist and hip, then pulled her down with him, making her straddle his lap, facing him. He started kissing her neck, being careful around the marks he left earlier, which were now a bit more visible thanks to the nearby fairy lights.

She felt his cold hands run under her shirt and jumped slightly, making Oikawa smile into her neck and mutter a small 'sorry'. Soon both her shirt and the hoodie she had on top it were off, carelessly thrown somewhere onto the ground, leaving her in her bra. Not for long, of course – with one quick, skilled motion Oikawa unclipped the back and threw it somewhere with the rest of her clothes.

Haruko, not about to be defeated, pushed him back slightly and did the same to his jacket and shirt, and a moment later Oikawa wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close and nuzzling her neck as she ran her hand through his hair. Her bare skin on his chest was bringing him back to reality, making a single rational thought cross his mind.

"What happens after this?"

"I… don't know? But we can keep going and find out…" Haruko said suggestively.

"No, Ike-chan, I mean… like, tomorrow." His words were still slow and jumbled thanks the alcohol in his system. "What happens tomorrow?"

Haruko paused. "Isn't it a bit too late to worry about that?"

Not hearing an answer from Oikawa she pulled away slightly and put her hand on his cheek, making him get lost in her eyes again. "Hey. Tomorrow's tomorrow and that's when we can figure it out. For now… live a little."

Any rational part of him was gone once again. He became hyperaware of the fact that she's right there, sitting on top of his lap,  _half-naked_.

_Why do I always do something stupid when I'm around you…_

Half-naked wasn't enough. He left a long kiss on her neck before giving into the fact that, at this point, there was no going back.

Before giving into the fact that he  _didn't want_  to go back.

Haruko felt one of his hands go down to her butt, one still around her waist, and with one quick motion he got her off of himself and flipped her onto the bed, hovering above her. The yelp Haruko let out from the surprise was cut off by him smashing his lips into hers again. He held her wrists above her head and Haruko felt his grip tighten as the kissing got rougher. Those kisses were needy, they were from someone who was completely taken over by lust – for a second Haruko wondered just how long he was holding himself back from all of this.

She felt him pull away and move down, letting go of her wrists. His cold hands ran down her sides making her shiver slightly, but the warmth of his breath and lips soon replaced the cold feeling as he kissed the top of her breast. He shuffled slightly shifting his weight and went down a bit more, giving one of her nipples a long lick before sucking on it, earning a few small moans from her. Haruko noted how ridiculous his upper body strength was – while one of his hands was playing with her other breast, his other hand was already making its way down to unbutton her pants.

She ran her hand through his soft hair once again, and when she felt him pull away from her chest, she unwillingly tugged him back down slightly, as if asking not to stop. Oikawa locked his eyes with her own, took her hand and planted a kiss on her palm.

The look he had in his eyes… it was the look of someone who was completely  _gone_.

He let go a moment after and went back to what he was doing, though he didn't take his eyes off Haruko's the entire time. He slid her pants off and threw them somewhere among the other clothes, leaving her in just her underwear.

He went back down, still keeping eye contact with her and placed both of his hands on her sides. She felt his hot breath around the hem of her underwear as he tugged on it with his teeth.

And there it was. The image Haruko knew she would never get out of her head. The image she couldn't help but stare at with her lips parted.

Oikawa, shirtless, pulling her underwear down to her knees with his teeth while not taking a single glance off her eyes.

Even in bed, he was a crowd-pleaser.  _Straight out of a playgirl magazine_.

Haruko snapped out of it when he ducked down and trapped himself between her naked self and her underwear, putting her legs over his shoulders. She couldn't help but blush realizing just how close he is, but the last thing she wanted at this moment was for him to stop. And Oikawa knew that.

He kissed her inner thigh while holding them both with his hands and started trailing down to her core.

"Ngh… Stop teasin-" Haruko inhaled sharply and arched her head back when he ran his tongue through her folds – slowly and teasingly, earning a slight moan from her. After a few seconds, when she realized nothing is happening, she opened her eyes and lifted her head, only to see Oikawa leaning his cheek on her thigh, smirking at her.

"…What?" she questioned.

"Nothing… I just never thought I'd get to see you like this."

His smirk widened when he was how flustered that got her – Haruko was glad the fairy lights were so dim, seeing as she was blushing like mad. Not only was he  _right between her legs_ , he had to call her out on it, too?

"Oh shut up…" she murmured, looking away. Just this once, she was going to let him win. Well, in this case, she wanted him to win.

Without a word or a warning he dove back down and continued eating her out, earning a few more moans from her. His tongue paired with the feeling of his hands caressing her thighs were already too much to handle, and the moment she thought she was getting used to the pleasure, he started sucking on her clit, sending her into overdrive.

Haruko gripped the bedsheets as well as his hair with her other hand and her moans got louder as he went on. And while Oikawa was satisfied seeing her squirming under him because of what  _he_  was doing, he was never satisfied  _enough._

When he slid a finger inside her while still eating her out, the pleasure became almost too much. Oikawa had to use his free hand to hold the girl down, though that only made him more satisfied with himself. She was a moaning, trembling mess, and he knew he would never let go of the few times he heard her say his name.

He felt Haruko grip his hair tighter, and while it stung a little, he didn't mind. Her breathing became uneven as well, Oikawa knew she was close.

"I'm-.. ngh.."

_I know._

The last thing he wanted to do now was to stop to answer her. He picked up the pace instead, his finger curling inside her and his tongue playing with her clit were sending her over the edge. And soon enough they did.

Haruko let out a sharp gasp followed by something that was either a moan, swearing, his name, or all of the above. Her grip on Oikawa's hair loosened and he was given the opportunity to watch the girl in front of him drown in the orgasm he gave her.

With her eyes still closed, Haruko felt him shuffle over and plop down next to her. As his arm wrapped around her, her heavy breathing slowly started going back to normal.

"Just… give me… a minute…" she breathed.

Though the minute turned into two, the two minutes turned to ten, and the ten minutes soon turned into several hours as both of them dozed off.

* * *

_9.24am_

Haruko made her way through the campus, hoping she won't run into anyone, a least for the time being. That would prove to be inevitable at the end of the day, she had to be at volleyball practice after all, and part of her was hoping that Oikawa was too hungover to attend today.

_Right, like anything ever stopped him from going to practice…_

As soon as she walked into the lecture theatre, her eyes darted to the seats where Oikawa and Iwaizumi usually sit, a few rows behind her own. Not seeing either of them there finally made her realize that neither of them have morning classes on Mondays.

_Oh… Right…_

She sighed in relief, knowing she probably won't run into Oikawa until after lunch, meaning she could relax until then. Haruko had no plan on how to deal with…  _this_ , and her brain was not cooperating in coming up with one.

Out of all the problems in her mind, the worst one… was the one where she had mixed feelings about what to do next.

She made her way to her seat while taking her scarf and jacket off, as well as dropping her bag on the table.

_Why did you have to be so-_

"Hey, rough night, huh?"

Haruko's thoughts were cut off by the girl who was sitting next to her on Mondays. She smiled at the girl and nodded – the makeup she put on at the café probably wasn't enough to hide the tiredness and hangover.

Soon enough the lecture began, and Haruko did her best to focus.

* * *

 **AN:**  …wow I am so sorry this took me a MONTH.

Honestly I got super stuck on the nsfw part and I am SO sorry if it's cringe-y? This is my first time writing anything sexual and like… I did NOT expect that to be so hard to write. I've never been this stuck on a chapter. Me: haha yeah I have yeaaars of relationship experience, how hard can it be? Answer: VERY.

I'll take your feedback on board and depending on that I will be adjusting the story to either have more or less nsfw content. Originally I was literally gonna base a lot of the story on that (hence the spoiler-y tags, avoid looking at them if you want a surprise lmao cause some of you already noticed em) but it depends on what you guys wanna see? So yeah let me know. I can't tell if what I wrote is cringeworthy or not, I think it's okay cause I edited it like 7 times but I've been staring at it for so long I can't tell anymore. :')

Once again, super sorry for the wait! Love you guys!


	16. Chapter 16

**98 percent**

**Chapter 16**

_This isn't my apartment._

Holding his head (as if that would help his mad hangover) and squinting after  _just_  waking up, Oikawa sat on the bed dumbfounded. After his alarm went off, he jumped from his sleep, scurrying around for his phone to turn it off – he only sets his alarm for Mondays as a precaution, since he has class after lunch and usually he's awake by then anyway. But today he wasn't, and not only that, this indeed wasn't his apartment.

"…Hello?"

No answer. The headache wasn't helping him remember where he is and what happened at all. He looked at his phone and did a double-take when he saw the time.

"Shit!"

12:57pm. That gave him exactly 33 minutes to get ready and get to class from god knows where he was. He opened his map app on his phone, sighing in relief that he was within walking distance of the university. He left the figuring out what happened part for later and got up to collect his clothes – the fact that he was shirtless in someone else's bed was a little worrying, but he didn't have the time to think about that now.

Adjusting his glasses, he quickly texted Iwaizumi before getting ready.

* * *

  _From: Oikawa_

_To: Iwa-chan_

Hey I'll meet you at the gates today

* * *

  _From: Iwa-chan_

_To: Oikawa_

What, why? I'm almost at your place

* * *

  _From: Oikawa_

_To: Iwa-chan_

I'm not home

* * *

  _From: Iwa-chan_

_To: Oikawa_

…okay?

* * *

 Oikawa raised an eyebrow at his best friend's flat response. He was a little surprised that Iwaizumi didn't even question him, usually he was such a dad. Maybe he was having a hard morning too?

Oikawa shook his head and shoved his phone back into his pocket. Whatever, now wasn't the time. He continued trying to make himself look human in front of a mirror in someone's  _super tiny_  bathroom. He mentally thanked whatever higher power blessed him with good looks – he didn't look ideal, but he could still pass as simply tired looking, nothing more. Still, he wasn't satisfied.

He walked out and went back into the living room. Though the living room was pretty much a living room, study, bedroom and hallway all in one.

_How does anyone fit anything in here…_

He looked around for anything that could help him look more decent. With a little less than 20 minutes left until class, he didn't get to be picky, and soon his eyes caught on a plain burgundy scarf in between some coats. He could have sworn he's seen it somewhere before…

Well, whoever's the scarf was, it was his now. Was this stealing? Eh, serves them right for leaving him alone in their apartment. He wrapped it around his neck and all the way up to his nose – if anything, he could pretend he has a cold. He's tired and he has a cold. Good enough of an explanation until he gets back to his own apartment to clean up properly.

Wasting no time, Oikawa head towards the door and noticed a bright yellow post-it note on it.

"pls leave keys under doormat thanks"

There was also a little arrow pointing to the keys in the keyhole below. The note was clearly scribbled in a hurry, as if someone was trying to leave as quickly as possible, but he was glad that at least the person didn't lock him in.

Doing as he is told, he locked up, left the keys under the doormat and went towards the elevator. The 'ding!' noise it made seemed so familiar, and so did the elevator itself on the inside…

_Right, I was probably in here last night… If I can barely remember anything, I doubt I was in a state to use the stairs…_

Oikawa never wanted to be in his own apartment more than when he stepped outside. How the hell did it get so cold overnight? He only had a hoodie on; taking that scarf was a good idea. He took his phone out, double-checked the map and pretty much power-walked to university, which warmed him up at least a little.

It didn't take him long to get to the gates, and once he arrived he saw Iwaizumi standing nearby, yawning.

Wait, yawning? Past lunch? Early bird Iwa-chan? Was… was he wearing what he wore last night?

_Why is it that I can remember what Iwa-chan wore, but nothing more useful than that?_

He walked over to his best friend, giving him a small nod and a 'hey'. Within the two seconds it took Iwaizumi to reply, Oikawa looked over his outfit and, well, him altogether. Iwa was definitely wearing the same thing he wore last night, all except for a scarf that didn't belong to him, so ironically they  _both_  had scarves that belonged to strangers. He never wore scarves, the man hates them, so he was clearly hiding whatever was under it, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what it is. Not only that, he looked like he barely got any sleep, and Oikawa had so,  _so_  many questions.

Then again, so did Iwaizumi. Since when does his wannabe fashion icon of a best friend wear the same outfit two days in a row? But god, he wasn't about to have a game of twenty questions. Too early, too hungover, too about-to-be-late-to-class.

Iwaizumi, saying a "mm" for a hello back, stretched out his arm, at the end of which was a cup of hot coffee. A bribe to shut the hell up. For now, at least.

And Oikawa was happy to take that bribe. Chugging coffee, both of them made their way to the main building in silence.

Walking through the hallway with just a few minutes left until their lecture begins, Oikawa was yawning and trying to figure out just how he was going to survive the entire three hour long class, with very few breaks. And he had volleyball practice after that, too… This was going to be a long day.

Finally, the boys reached their destination and went into the lecture theatre. On Monday afternoons, Oikawa had pretty much developed a reflex to wave to Haruko, since they don't see each other until after lunch. The moment he looked at her, he was met with her curious eyes, making his own widen and stopping him in his tracks.

_Oh._

_Haruko._

…

_OH._

Iwaizumi smashed into him without realizing his friend stopped in front of him so abruptly, spewed some curse words at him and something about it being 'too early for this shit', and shoved him a little to keep going up the stairs towards their row of seats. That snapped Oikawa out of it for a second and he did so, but his head was a mess.

All it took was seeing her again and everything came back to him.

* * *

 If Oikawa didn't remember last night before, it was obvious that he did now.

When Haruko saw him have a very clear realization of what happened, her own eyes shot back at her notes, a million of 'shitfuckgoddamnit's going through her head. She was banking on him forgetting what happened so much, and clearly that didn't work out.

_NOW WHAT?_

She could feel his eyes nearly piercing through her from a few rows behind. She sunk her head in her hands, absolutely lost on what to do next. The lecture was going on already, though whatever their professor was saying went into one ear and out through the other.

_Wait… is he wearing my scarf?_

Well, the last thing she wanted to do was to look back at him to check. She could just use her tablet screen  _like in the old days_ , but she was afraid to do even that much. Confrontation sucks. Especially after…  _that_.

As the lecture went on, Haruko decided there was no way she could face him right now. Or today, or ever. Maybe she doesn't have to? Maybe this was all going to blow over and things are gonna go back to normal like nothing happened and everyone will be-

_Oh for god's sake I nearly slept with the man, he had his face between my legs, this is NOT going to blow over…_

Trying to reason with herself wasn't helping the hangover. Neither were the memories of last night. The moral and right thing to do was probably talking to each other and laughing it off or something, but she had a nagging feeling in the back of her head, telling her to do something… else.

Haruko decided to call the one person who knows his way around one-night stands later and ask for advice. Surely, she can avoid Oikawa until then. Right?.. Right?

_Oh god, volleyball practice._

Then again, he would be focused on the actual practice. Hopefully.

* * *

 A few rows behind Haruko, Oikawa was losing his shit. Quietly, but he was.

Worst part? He can't even tell anyone. He can't even ask anyone for advice on what to do, shit, if Iwa-chan found out, he would kill him! And so would his teammates!

Pretending he is focusing on the lecture, he sunk into his chair and into the scarf around his neck. This was her scarf, wasn't it? It was her apartment, so it had to be her scarf.

It smelled like her, anyway.

Oikawa mentally slapped himself. Out of all the things he was feeling, there was one thing missing, and that was regret. He couldn't even lie to himself, he would do it all over again, and the song from last night wouldn't leave him alone.

_Still, I'd trade all my tomorrows, for just one yester-AUGHHH NO._

He closed his eyes and sunk into the scarf even more. This was bad. She was a good friend, a great one even, and right after they sorted their differences out, right after everything went back to being nice and dandy, _this_  had to happen.

Oikawa knew he needed to talk to her. For one thing, he had no idea how she felt about what happened. But how do you even bring something like this up? Actually, how do you even start talking to someone you're friends with, but like… gave them an orgasm some hours ago?

_How do people even deal with the aftermath of one-night stands..?_

His thoughts took a more depressing route towards the fact that this was the first time he's been with anyone like that since Mao. Wasn't he supposed to feel more regret, or in this case,  _any_  regret at all, seeing as it was nothing more than just… fun? No feelings, just irresponsible, mindless, reckless fun?

…Actually, why  _should_  he feel any regret?

And… did she?

_I really need to talk to her._

* * *

  **AN:**  this chapter is a bit short and I was gonna continue it to be about twice as long, but it's 12:30am and I have uni tomorrow. But I really wanted to update because I felt super bad for leaving you guys with no updates for over a month!

Thing is, I was on holiday but ended up spending less time at my laptop than ever. We were hosting xmas this year too so it was actually quite a bit of work. Ironically I have more time/energy to update while I have uni? Yeah, don't question it. I don't know either.

I'll be honest, because I was barely at my laptop, I was barely listening to music, and I kinda lost inspiration for this. Re-visiting all the songs that inspired me to write this really fired me up to get back to this fic, so I figured I might as well share them? Please don't feel obliged to listen to them though, I have a weird music taste that's all over the place lol.

If you look up 'misshealthpotion' on youtube, there's a playlist called 98 percent. (I'll keep adding to it, too) The first three songs are literally what inspired this whole mess, the rest are random, they're not in any specific order, and some more depressing ones (lookin' at you, Daughter) are either for Kiyoko or from a chapter that hasn't happened yet. What, you think I'm gonna skip out on what happened to Haruko and Teru on that messed up road trip? Who do u take me for?

Anyway, thank you for sticking around to anyone who has! My update schedule is non-exsistent and I imagine that can be frustrating. Sorry about that!


	17. Chapter 17

**98 percent**

**Chapter 17**

"Dismissed."

Haruko didn't need to be told twice. The moment their professor ended the lecture she shoved her tablet into her bag, slung it over her shoulder and left the lecture theatre at the speed of light without looking back. Until she could find enough time to call Terushima and figure out what the  _hell_  to do, while also enduring his endless teasing about the whole situation, she was going to do her best to avoid Oikawa. This was going to be a long conversation, so she figured she would do it after volleyball practice finished.

But first she had to survive volleyball practice.

Avoiding their usual squad sofa, she made her way straight to the extremely overpriced university café on the ground floor. Not a lot of students went there, meaning she could a) get some peace and quiet to calm down and b) get some more glorious, albeit very expensive, coffee.

Said coffee in hand, she slumped into one of the empty seats, exhaling heavily. This was going to be such a long day.

"Whoa, rough night?"

She looked up at Maki taking a seat in front of her. The café was nearby the university's entrance, he must have just come in. So much for some quiet time.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Haruko pondered. Did she really look that bad?

Maki raised his eyebrow with amusement on his face. "Don't tell me you don't know  _that's_  there?"

He pointed a finger at her, just a little below her head. Haruko looked down at her shirt, stretching it even, but found nothing on it. She looked back at Maki and gave him a questioning look.

"Wow." He had a huge shit-eating grin on his face and it was starting to get on Haruko's nerves. He pointed at his neck, making the girl feel around her own. Once she placed her hand on the right side, a jolt of pain went through it, and she squinted. She picked up her bag and started rummaging through it for her pocket mirror.

Once Haruko took it out and flicked it open to see just what is causing so much amusement for Maki, her eyes widened.

She slammed the pocket mirror on the table, grabbed her scarf and wrapped it around her neck in a swift motion.

"Fuck." she muttered.

Maki, on the other hand, was losing it. "I can't believe- pff I can't believe you didn't know that's there! Shit, like, that's not even a hickey anymore, that's a damn bruise! You wild wow ahaha-"

Haruko groaned. How did she not see it before? She figured she must have missed it when doing her makeup because she had the scarf on the entire time, all the way till she came to class. Which meant that Oikawa saw his handiwork as well. And so did half of the lecture theatre, probably. She put her forehead on the table, drowning in embarrassment.

"You look just as defeated as the whole team will be when they find out you have a boyfriend." Maki chuckled.

"I  _don't_."

Haruko said it without thinking it through and immediately regretted the action, which was followed by Maki's intrigued "Oh?".

She lifted her head and glared at him. "Don't get any ideas."

Maki put his hands in front of himself in defense. "I won't, I won't. But, seriously, you should come party with us sometime. The only party-Ikeda we see is the aftermath one every Monday, and that 'I don't have the time' excuse isn't gonna work again."

Haruko smiled. At least he quickly dropped the teasing. "Fine, fine. I'll ask my manager if I can leave early this Friday. Sound good?"

"As good as I'm gonna get, so, yes. You going to practice today?"

She watched him take a sip of his coffee and remembered to drink her own. "Um… I'm not sure." she said, an idea sparking in her mind. "I might talk to the coach and just work on some managery-stuff outside or something. I honestly need some fresh air, I'm pretty sure I still have alcohol in my system."

"In this weather? It's like 10'C outside."

"I know, but the wind calmed down. It's not as bad as it was this morning."

"Whatever you say."

They continued talking until it was time for Maki to go change for practice. After he left Haruko behind, she decided to find the coach and talk about changing up her activities for the day.

* * *

 "-I'm telling you, it looked more like a bruise than a hickey. I don't know what the hell she's into but I _so_  want to find out."

Oikawa and Iwaizumi walked into their club room to change, immediately greeted by Maki going on about something dirty again. That was the only thing going on in that man's head 24/7.

"I don't think Ikeda's boyfriend would be too happy hearing you say that."

Ah. Right. Haruko. Of course one of them saw the bruise he left on her neck last night.

Oikawa tried to ignore the sickening pride he felt about it.

"She said she doesn't have one!"

The several "Oh?"s following got on his nerves, though.

"That's what I said! Free game, my dudes."

"Ugh, Maki."

"Dude."

"No."

"You wanna drink some 'respecting women' juice, Maki?"

The last comment came from a really irritated Oikawa, and for some reason he had to hear it loud and clear.

"Oh please, as if you've never wanted to bone her? Come on."

Oikawa sighed, holding himself back from saying 'already did'. Not like he actually did, anyway.

"She's one of my best friends, Maki." he said, turning away from his locker.

"And? Don't pretend you don't look at her the same way the rest of us do."

Everyone else was quiet. None of them could disagree with Maki, and none of them had the guts to interrupt or say anything themselves. Even Iwaizumi decided to stay quiet for now, but he was ready to go in between them if things got out of hand.

"Oh  _no_ , I have  _eyes_ , how  _shocking_. There's a difference between thinking these things and announcing every person you want to  _fuck_. In case you haven't noticed, none of us want to hear it. And that's not even it, it's  _how_  you talk about these things, and Ike-chan specifically, that pisses me off." Oikawa spat. "She's not  _'free game'_. She's not a prize to be won; she's a human being for fuck's sake."

"So I said what everyone else was thinking, big whoop. Including you, actually, you've just said it yourself. You're literally thinking the same thing we all are, and yet, you're the one lecturing me somehow?"

Oikawa had to hold himself from flinching. He wasn't expecting Maki to be smart enough to come up with good arguments. And the fact that  _he was the one who left the goddamn bruise on her neck_  wasn't helping.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Maki chuckled.

Oh, now that was the  _last_  thing Oikawa was going to admit.

So he rolled his eyes. "You know what, this is none of my business. Do what you want."

He turned back to his locker to continue changing. "But don't come back crying when she sees you for the person you really are. She's not stupid, you know."

Oikawa ignored Maki's annoyed 'tch'. The club room was quiet, and boy was it awkward, but no one had the nerve to start talking again, so the boys finished getting ready and head out in silence, chit-chat between team members breaking out only when they started heading towards the gym in small groups.

"You're walking on thin ice, Trashykawa."

Oikawa glanced over to his irritated, though mostly worried, best friend. It's just an argument with a teammate, it wasn't even that bad.

"What-"

"Just be careful if you're gonna keep going."

Before Oikawa could process what he said or ask why Iwaizumi is so worried about some shitty argument, a few other teammates joined them to chat while they were on their way to practice.

Once they reached the gym, his mind almost unwillingly wandered to Haruko again. He looked around, only seeing coach Mukai, but no manager-chan in sight.

Oikawa sighed and mentally facepalmed himself. Knowing her, she was most likely avoiding him.

_Why are you like this, Ike-chan…_

For the rest of the day, he tried his best to focus on practice, instead of playing out the conversation he was going to have with her in his head.

* * *

 The next time Oikawa saw Haruko was during their end of the day run. Most of the guys were doing their runs inside the gym, though for Oikawa, being the Mr. Extra that he is, the gym was too small and it's wasn't  _that_  cold outside anymore.

Still too cold to be running in just booty-shorts though, so before that he went to change into his winter sports outfit, leggings and teal shorts included. Before he could put in his earphones for a relaxing run, his eyes caught on a familiar jacket.

Haruko was sitting on a bench outside, not too far from their club room. She seemed to be talking on the phone with someone.

Oikawa took a deep breath and started walking towards her. He was going to talk it over, and they were going to laugh it off, leaving last night as a distant and pleasant memory, rather than something that would get in the way of their friendship.

And he would get over the fact that he'll never hear her say his name the way she did last night.

Oikawa slowed down when he got closer, not wanting to startle her. He was behind the girl, unsure of what to do next. Should he wait for her to finish talking? Should he let her know he's there?

"Teru, that's… that's not the problem."

…Or should he eavesdrop?

* * *

 "Why is it that every time you find comfort in someone, you bang them?"

The coach, unfortunately, didn't let her Haruko the hook that easily. With the tournament coming up, there was plenty of paperwork to take care of, and by the time Haruko was done, the day was almost gone. Avoiding any curious ears was hard at university, so she found a lonely bench outside and dialed Terushima's number. Needless to say, he was getting a kick out of the situation.

"Oh my fucking god, Teru, will you let that  _one_ time go already? And I didn't bang him, we just… we did… some stuff."

"…I can't believe you got Oikawa-fucking-Tooru in your bed and didn't sleep with him. What is  _wrong_  with you, woman? I've been trying to get his number for months!"

Haruko groaned. "I regret calling you…"

"Alright, alright," Terushima chuckled, "well, what do you want  _me_  to do?"

"Give me advice, I don't know? I just… it's weird, okay? Like, you have constant one-night-stands with people, how do you deal with them the next day?"

"I don't."

"What?"

"I don't! I don't sleep with people I'll see the next day! Or ever."

Now it was Haruko's turn to tease. "And you haven't run out of people to sleep with like that?"

A sarcastic "ha ha" came from the other end.

Haruko snorted. "Sorry, sorry, I had to."

"Okay, look," he started after a pause, "not to be the guy that 'won't let go of that  _one_  time', but you've been through the same thing before. With me. So like, just talk it out - we did. Oikawa's a decent guy, I mean I don't know him too well, but from what you've told me so far, like… I'm sure you can work it out and leave it behind you, I dunno?"

Haruko paused. Oh boy.

"Teru, that's… that's not the problem."

"Eh?"

"I said that's not the problem. I  _know_  Oikawa and I can talk it out. That's not what my problem is."

"…Well then what _is_  your problem?"

She paused again. Terushima Yuuji is about to have a field day.

"I… That is… He, uh…"

"Out with it, woman, I don't got all day."

"…He was… really good and I kinda wanna do it again?"

A pause.

"Ah."

"Oh,  _really_?"

Haruko's neck nearly snapped doing a 180 to look behind her. The "Ah." came from Terushima on the other end of the line. The second, sickeningly smug bit came from someone else.

Oikawa-fucking-Tooru, the eavesdropping asshole. He was leisurely leaning on the back of the bench, arm supporting his stupid face with his stupid shit-eating grin on it.

Glaring at him, while also burning up like mad, Haruko had to force her voice from going squeaky.

"I'LL CALL YOU BACK."

"Was… Haru-chan, was that him?"

"I SAID I'LL CALL YOU BACK, BYE."

Before she could press the End Call button, she could hear Terushima losing his shit on the other end.

A million curse words were going through her head as she was staring down at her phone.

"Has  _anyone_  taught you that eavesdropping is rude?" she said in a defeated tone.

"Yes, but I've found that listening in on people's conversations is a lot of fun!"

His voice was too cheerful for his own good.

"You are  _such_  an asshole…"

"Not what you called me last night."

Wow. Haruko was going to have none of that. "Oh, _please_ , enlighten me," she said sarcastically, looking up at him again, "what  _did_  I call you last night?  _Your majesty_  or some shit?"

"No," he started, his expression softer than it was before, "just… Tooru."

Haruko got taken aback by that – his expression combined with what he said was a little more powerful of a comeback than she expected.

His face went back to how it was a second later, though.

"Loudly." he added.

"Oh MY FUCGHRHRRRRRRRR-" Haruko groaned, sinking her head into her hands, trying to somehow tune out Oikawa laughing his butt off. "What do you want from meeeee…"

Still laughing, Oikawa put his hands in his pockets and made his way around the bench to sit next to her. "Nothing!" he started, " _What_  are you even so upset about? If it's the teasing, honestly, did you  _not_  expect me to tease you about it? Who do you take me for?"

Haruko sighed, lifting her head from her hands, though not at a stage to look at him yet. "I don't… know? I guess?"

He was right. That's literally how he is.

But seeing her so defeated made Oikawa spare her.

"Alright, look," he said, still chuckling from his previous fit, "you've said it yourself, we can talk it out. And if we both know that, then there isn't even a reason to talk it out. We both had some fun last night, so what? It's just one night."

He was an asshole, but he knew when to be sincere. Finally, Haruko looked up at him and sighed. "I guess you're right… I may be making this into a bigger deal than it is…"

"I'm always right."

Ah, there it is. That stupid grin of his. The grin Haruko can't help but snort at and shake her head.

She watched him get up and eyed his attire. She's never seen him wear leggings before, that was definitely a new look. She figured he was doing his end of the day run.

"Though…" he spoke up again, snapping Haruko out of staring at his legs. Oikawa was fixing up his jacket, getting ready to go. "If I can quote you on one last thing from last night…"

Haruko was about to make a face.

If it wasn't for what he heard her say on the phone, Oikawa wasn't going to push his luck, but…

"Live a little."

She could have sworn he was trying to wipe off the most devilish smirk off his face before he ran off.

 _What's_ that _supposed to mean?.._

* * *

  _From: Teru_

_To: Haruko_

You alive lol?

* * *

  _From: Haruko_

_To: Teru_

Sort of.

* * *

  _From: Teru_

_To: Haruko_

Pff okay you wanna hang out later?

* * *

  _From: Haruko_

_To: Teru_

You just want in on more drama don't you?

* * *

  _From: Teru_

_To: Haruko_

Yes + I need some new clothes and I want companyyyy

* * *

 Haruko rolled her eyes and typed out a quick 'sure' on her phone. Not even 10 minutes after Oikawa left for his run, she heard another teammate of hers shouting her name.

"Yo, Ikeda-san!"

She turned around to see Toyo (or  _whatever_ his name was), one of their third-years and team regulars, approaching her. He seemed to be in a hurry.

"Hey hey." she gave him a small wave.

"Listen, since you're still here, mind locking up the club room for me? I'm so sorry, but I have an evening shift at work and I really need to go! Oikawa's things are still in there, I don't think he came back from his run yet and I don't want to-"

Haruko grabbed the keys from his hand and chuckled, "Go, go, this is what I'm here for."

Toyo smiled saying several 'thank you's and stormed off. After all, Oikawa was held up with her, it's the least she could do.

Plus she was their manager, it was kind of her job to help out.

She got up and started heading towards the building where all the club rooms were at. It wasn't far, but she could understand that waiting for Oikawa to come back hell knows when isn't the best scenario when you're late to work.

Their club room was on the first floor. Haruko head straight there spinning the keys around her index finger. The light inside was on and the door was slightly open. With no second thought, she opened it and took a few steps in, ready to wait for Oikawa to come back.

Looking up she realized that he was already back.

He was also taking his shirt off.

The only time she saw him shirtless was in dim light, but here? Here all she could do was ogle at him and his well-toned body in its full, well-lit glory.

"Hey, Ike-chan."

"I'm-fuck sorry." she muttered, and after looking at him noticed he was raising a very amused eyebrow at her. Her cheeks started burning up thinking about how she looked while staring at him. "I, uh, Toyo, he gave me… keys. To lock up. Since you weren't here. If… that makes sense."

It's like one look at this man's shirtless self was robbing her of the ability to speak properly.

Oikawa looked back at his locker and tried his best not to giggle at her terribly poor attempt to hide how flustered she is. "That's fine, just close the door, it's cold."

He made sure to fold his shirt as slowly as possible.

"Uh… yeah, sure…"

She did as told and looked back at his once again very amused face.

"…What?"

Silently chuckling, Oikawa turned back to his locker again. He shook his head slightly.

_Fuck it._

Oikawa then decided he's going to push his luck till the end today.

He went over to the stiff girl standing a few steps away from him in their tiny club room.

"When I said close the door…" he lifted his hand up, motioning her to give him the keys, which she did, unable to realize why he wanted them now, "I meant  _behind_  you. From the  _outside_ , since, you know, I'm changing. But… I guess I don't mind you watching."

Giving her a  _way_  too suggestive look, he walked past her, and left her standing there swearing at herself in her head. Even when she gave him the keys, Haruko couldn't help herself from glancing down, and she  _knows_  he saw.

Her mind was torn between  _'please put your shirt back on'_  and  _'destroy me'_ and it was  _killing_  her.

Not like she was given a lot of time to think, anyway. The click of a door being locked behind her made her turn around and regret the reflex immediately because 'oh, right, shirtless Oikawa'.

How can anyone look this good?

_...Wait, did he just lock the door?_

"What are you-…"

Haruko watched him take the key out of the lock, two other keys dangling on the keychain it was on.

She watched him hold the keys in front of him.

She watched his other hand stretch out the band at the front of his shorts… and probably leggings. And boxers.

And she watched him drop the keys in, followed by a snap when he let the band go. All that with a completely blank expression on his face.

Oikawa lifted his hands in the air, as if what he did just now was illegal. Which, really, it should have been.

He kept looking at her with a blank (yet somehow still smug?) expression, waiting for a response. Haruko was staring at the 'show' he put on in disbelief, and only after a pause, spoke up with the first thing that came to her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Oikawa tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, giving her a silent 'what's it gonna be?'.

Haruko knew she could leave. She could have just asked, and Oikawa would have apologized, and everything would have went back to normal the next day.

_Live a little._

"…Ah, fuck it…"

Yet somehow, moments later, her back slammed into one of the lockers, while her legs were around Oikawa's waist and his hands were on her bottom, holding her up.

And even though Oikawa's head was clouded by the rough make out, he still made a point to slam her into Maki's locker out of spite.

Because fuck that guy.

* * *

  **AN:**  you guys… the newest hq chapter… my skin is clear, my crops are growing... I changed this chapter up just to have him in leggings because oh my god… thank u furudate for giving me a reasons to live… I missed him so much wtf…

also uh reminder that Maki aint Hanamakki, it's just some rando fuckboy whos in their uni.

ANYWAY WE'RE HERE NOW. Even wrote a longer chapter than I was planning. It'sa happenin'. It's almost unreal how long it took me to make 'em throw themselves at each other. IT'S TIME LADS.

... "one night" my ass lol


	18. Chapter 18

**98 percent**

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Long time no see! You’ll probably have to re-read the old chapters to remember what the hell is going on, but hey, so did I lol. I also spruced a few of them up with more natural speech, they were a little cringey at the beginning tbh. No major changes though. Anyway, hiatus excuses at the bottom, but for now, enjoy!

* * *

“Oikawa.”

He pulled back a little, still holding her up. Haruko’s voice was so stern that he was afraid something between the lines of ‘this was a bad idea after all’ was about to come out of her mouth.

But instead…

“Your stupid keys are making an imprint on my thigh and that does not feel nice.”

Oh, right. He forgot about those. They were actually doing the same to him, but he didn’t even notice, being, you know, preoccupied. Haruko unwrapped her legs from around him as he put her down with a swift bounce, and Oikawa then put his semi-crossed arms above her head on the locker.

“Take them out, then.” he smirked.

Drunk or not, this man did _not_ have a filter when it came to these things. Haruko, though, wished she was at least a little tipsy right about now because the back of her mind was still screaming _what the HELL are you doing._

However, the front of her mind was, thankfully, much louder, and was also very intrigued by his suggestion. Because those keys in his boxers weren’t the _only_ thing she felt.

Once Oikawa felt her hands slowly travel down, he put his own hand on her cheek to pull her back into a kiss, keeping the other one still above her head, not wanting to be in the way of anything she was about to do.

Haruko’s fingers played with the hem of his shorts for a little while, then slowly slid into his boxers, but just enough to the sides of where he wanted her hands to be. The movement was so slow and Oikawa knew she was teasing him on purpose. Yet, even knowing that, he was losing it, pressing her to the locker a little harder without even realizing.

And she knew this. She still had room to move her hands, but because he was so close, she could also feel the heartbeat in his chest speeding up. And Haruko had to admit that, even though she was an absolute bottom, it was fun being in charge for a little while. Until he completely loses it, that is.

Haruko’s left hand finally encountered the keys that were lost in his boxers – they had slid to the side a little, leaving her with even more time to tease him. She hooked her finger through the keyring loop, and swiftly took them out, leaving her other hand in his boxers.

She pulled back from his lips and held her hand near Oikawa’s head for him to see, swirling the keys around her finger a couple of times. Resting his forehead on her own, Oikawa quickly glanced over to them, unamused.

“Got ‘em.” she said sweetly, with the most innocent smile she could pull in this situation.

“I… can see that.” Oikawa started, his tone deeper than it was before, with a clear hint of impatience. “Doesn’t explain why your _other_ hand is still in my underwear, though.”

Both of their words were slowly turning into whispers, like a calm before a storm.

“I don’t know-“, Haruko shifted her hand in his boxers and slowly began running a single finger down his erection, “-what you’re talking about.”

Mentally sizing him up, Haruko was also starting to realize that this man was built by the gods themselves in _every_ aspect.

She wasn’t given much time for that though, as moments later Oikawa pressed her to the locker even more.

“You’re about to find out, then.”

The man was absolutely losing it. He smashed his lips into hers once again, kissing her much rougher than before, earning a small moan from Haruko, while his hands darted down to the buttons of her jeans. He stopped caring that he's interrupting whatever she was doing, Oikawa's patience was counting down little by little from the moment she walked into the room and gave him the same look she gave him last night. And at this point there was barely any of it left, if any at all.

He was so riled up he was ready to fuck her right then and there.

Not today though, Oikawa. Not today.

The club room’s door handle was pressed down from the outside, the noise startling them both and making them jump from one another in a split second.

“SHIT!”  
“FUCK!”

The two wide-eyed horny idiots were both whisper-yelling, glancing between the door and each other, panicking about what to do.

Since the door was locked, though, thankfully the person behind it couldn’t open it.

“What the... hello? Shittykawa are you still in there? Why’s the door locked?” came from the other side of the door.

“Fucking IWA-CHAN.” Oikawa cursed, though quietly enough for him not to hear it.

“Shh!” Haruko shushed the boy, “He can’t come in here, right?”

“Yes he can, he has a key too!”

“Oh for fuck-.. Okay, well if we just like, I dunno, I’ll sit down, you continue changing, I was just waiting for you, that’s a buyable story right?”

“Why’d we lock up then?”

“What?”

“Why did we lock up-“

“YOU locked up!” Haruko argued between his whispers.

“-and why did neither of us answer him? He’s not that stupid, it will be less than 5 seconds between him seeing us alone in here and him figuring out what the fuck is happening and then he will fucking KILL ME.”

“I mean to be fair, you’re the only one suffering from that outcome…”

“IKE-CHAN.”

“Alright, alright, well- fuck I don’t know!” she whispered.

Their panic went into overdrive when they heard Iwaizumi behind the door grumbling and rummaging through his bag. He was looking for the key.

“Shit, SHIT, we need to either hide or go, NOW.” the girl added, and both of them started to frantically look around for options, and luckily enough, they had a very obvious one that their panic-mode was preventing them from realizing sooner.

“Window, window!” Oikawa whispered, grabbing his bag and shuffling Haruko over to the lonely window at the back of the club room. With a swift motion, he opened it and gave Haruko a small boost, hearing a small "oomph!" from her from the other side after she made a poor landing. He threw his bag over and boosted himself out, hearing the door unlock as he landed on the ground himself. It was incredibly convenient for their club room to be on the ground floor. The two pressed themselves against the wall under the window, praying not only that Iwaizumi didn’t see them, but also that they wouldn’t encounter any passerby. Because this would be incredibly hard to find an excuse for.

The window above them was left open, and they heard Iwaizumi approaching, mumbling something that sounded like “left the light on”, “waste of electricity”, “ugh didn’t even close the window”. As he approached the window, Haruko and Oikawa pressed themselves even closer to the wall, pretty much holding their breaths in. Doing this was more difficult for Oikawa – he still didn’t have a shirt on and he was _freezing_.

The window above them was closed shut, and a few seconds later they heard a faint noise of the door closing, too, at which point both of them exhaled the breaths they were holding.

Their panic break didn’t last long – a moment later they were startled by Haruko’s phone buzzing in her pocket.

“Fuck-GOD UGH.” she exclaimed, along with similar words coming from Oikawa, still quietly though, just in case anyone’s nearby. She picked up, while Oikawa began rummaging through his bag for a shirt, a jacket, or anything of the sort.

“WHAT.”

“Hey-.. what the fuck. Why are you whispering? Are you okay?”

“Yes, ugh sorry, I’ll call you back later, Teru.”

“Wh.. okay, but I’m already-“

Haruko dropped the call before he could finish – the sooner they got out of the situation they were in, the better. She turned back to Oikawa who was zipping up a jacket he had in his bag. “We really need to get out of here.”

He nodded, making Haruko notice that he, too, was still trying to even his breathing out. They got up and began shuffling towards the end of the building, keeping close to the wall. Once they were at the edge, Haruko peeked out to see if anyone was there. Seeing as it was the end of the day, though, it was quiet.

“Noone should see us, but… what about Iwaizumi? Which way does he go home?” she asked.

“He uses the west gate when he’s not meeting up with me, we shouldn’t run into him. Come on.”

Oikawa ducked out from the corner of the building and the girl followed his lead, soon enough making it look like they had simply been walking together around the campus. They headed towards the main gate, hoping they won’t run into anyone they know, or preferably anyone at all. Both of them were still trying to process what just happened, and, unsurprisingly, were a bit on the edge, so they walked in silence.

“THERE you are!”

As soon as they left the campus through the main gate, the pair were startled for the –nth time today, and a moment later Haruko scolded the culprit for it.

“FUCK- Terushima I swear to god you will give me a heart attack one day!.. Wait, what are you even doing here?”

He put his phone away and, hands in pockets, began approaching the two slowly, leaving his motorcycle a few meters behind. “Well someone’s on the edge. We were supposed to meet up?”

“Wh-.. Oh shit, what time is it?” Haruko had completely forgotten about that.

“Sooner than what we planned, but that’s why I called and-..jeez, you look like a mess.” he quickly glanced over to Oikawa, “..and so do you.”

Terushima glanced back to Haruko. Then to Oikawa. Then back to Haruko and started snickering with a stupid grin on his face. “I’m not even gonna ask pff-..”

Haruko rolled her eyes and sighed. “Yeah you will.”

Terushima snorted, “I mean, yeah, I absolutely will, just like, not while he’s here.” he motioned to Oikawa with his head.

“I… can _hear_ you, you know?”

Haruko groaned. A lot of things were happening all at once and this is the last thing she wanted to be a part of right now. So she took Terushima by his arms and spun him around, pushing him towards his motorcycle.

“Let’s GO. We are GOING now.” she stated, ignoring Teru’s complaints about her being rough. She turned her head around to the other boy she had left behind. “I’ll, uh.. see you tomorrow, Oikawa.”

“Y-yeah. See you.” He gave her a small wave and started heading home.

Once Haruko and Terushima reached his motorcycle, he spoke up again before getting on.

“Seriously, _what_ is going on between you two?”

“… I have no idea.”

* * *

 **AN:** YOOO lol. It’s been uuuuh 5 months without an update. I'm sure y'all got sick of waiting and I have plenty of excuses if you want them, here you go:

1\. Final uni project – I actually had my graduation show on Saturday. So like, 2 days ago.

2\. My own relationship was a little janky for a while but I think we’re doing better now. When you're with someone for 8+ years you're bound to run into some shitty times eventually. And as you can imagine writing these things isn’t easy when things are blergh.

3\. And finally, honestly? I lost inspiration for this for a while. (but probs cause of reason 2 though) I’m happy to say it’s coming back.

But yeah sorry for leaving you guys in the dark for so long! And for making this quite short, I still need to get back into things. But I am and that’s what counts! Hope you’ve stuck around long enough to notice this update, and if so, thank you for being patient with me!

Another reason it's short is because the beginning took me 3000 years. Writing nsfw content is hard because I keep zoning out thinking about said content. B) I kinda wanted to just make them go at it but I'm like naaah there will be PLENTY of opportunities for that, we have a Slow Burn tag for a reason here.

..Oh yeah when I wrote the SHIT FUCK bit all I could think about is that vine where a dude with a synth keyboard is just singing everybody knows shit fuck and honestly 10/10 check that video out on yt it's an absolute mood.


	19. Chapter 19

**98 percent**

**Chapter 19**

“…and that’s why we were leaving together today. So basically,” Haruko said, holding up a hoodie at Terushima’s chest, but shaking her head a moment later and putting it back on the clothing rack, “I have no idea what’s going on and I have no idea what to do about it, either.”

The two of them were visiting one of the stores at the shopping mall they were in. Like Terushima said before – he needed new clothes, some company, and of course, drama.

“Seriously, how did you even end up being the team manager in the first place?”

Oh, right. She never told him.

“That... uuh…” she pondered for a moment, “Now that I think of it, the reason I joined them literally _just_ started happening…”

Terushima raised an eyebrow at her. “For real? You joined the team to fuck around wi-“

“Shh!” she interrupted, “Turn your volume down - we’re in a public place, jeez!”

Haruko sighed and continued, “And yeah, I guess, kind of? Originally, I did, but as time went by, I kind of realized that that was a shitty thing to do and gave up on the whole ordeal. Me and Oikawa were at each other’s throats for a while after he found out…”

“Wait, he knows?”

“Yeah. This was a while ago; we ended up sorting it out and well, the next day I found him in my bed, you know the rest…” she shook her head. “We were completely wasted then, so like, I get it, I get how that could have happened. But not this time! We were completely sober; we made every decision consciously – the both of us! Both! I’m telling you, this feels surreal and I have no idea what to do with this mess…”

Terushima started heading out of the store they were in and back into the main area of the shopping mall. He already had a bag with some clothes he picked up during the evening, and the previous store was the last one left, so a break was in order. He started heading towards a small ice cream parlor in the middle of the walkway, and continued their conversation.

“You’re overthinking this, you know.”

“Wh-? Did you completely miss everything I’ve been telling you? I’ve-.. _We’ve_ made a complete mess of things.” Haruko argued.

“No, you _think_ you’ve made a mess. From an outsider perspective, I don’t see much of a problem.”

“How?!”

“First of all, pick out some ice cream.”

Haruko sighed and did as told – and because Terushima was paying, she made sure to get the most expensive sundae they had.

“You’re unbelievable.” he sighed, swiping his card.

“Love ya too.” Haruko said, already shoving a spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth.

They sat down at an empty table, and he continued.

“So, I’m saying this with a very jealous undertone, but, you’re getting what you wanted, right?”

“I mean… I guess…” she murmured, “Doesn’t make it feel right though.”

“That’s only because you still think you’re doing something evil. Which you would, but only if Oikawa didn’t know about your original, messed up intentions. Which he does, correct? You had your whole sappy make up shit didn’t you?”

She squinted, “Well, yeah, but what are you getting at exactly?”

“Look, I’m saying that I don’t get why this feels so wrong to you. He’s going into it knowing everything there is to know. You didn’t make him do anything – it was his own decision. A surprising one, I’ll admit, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how stubborn and petty he is.”

Haruko snorted. He is, he really is.

“So? Do you still think there’s a problem with what you’re doing?”

“If you put it that way, I guess not…“ she pondered, “Though my biggest problem isn’t what already happened, but what’s gonna happen next.”

“Well, what do you want to happen?”

Haruko looked down at her sundae, lazily scooping another spoon of ice-cream. “I dunno..? It was nice, but like, a one night stand is a one night stand. It has the number one in its name for a reason… Though technically this did happen twice now and-“

“Friends with benefits.” Terushima stated.

“…What.”

“Friends with benefits.” he repeated, shrugging, “If you wanna keep this going, that’s your answer, but you _have_ to do something about it. Oikawa made his move, woman, now it’s your turn – the only bad thing you’re doing now is leaving the poor horny idiot in the dark. Plus, if it was a relationship he was after, I’m pretty sure you would have known that by now. And I doubt _you’re_ after one either.”

Haruko shot Terushima a glare. No. Not after the last one.

“Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”

She shook her head. “No, no, don't apologize, it’s fine… It’s just that I’m still pretty shaken up after seeing Shimi-chan… She has a new girlfriend apparently.”

Terushima’s expression showed a sign of worry after she said that. “Ah… Wait, how do you even know that?”

“She told me when I was serving her at the bar. That was right before the whole Oikawa trainwreck happened.”

Teru leaned back in his chair and sighed, then spoke up after a short while, knowing all too well this won’t help. “She’s moving on, Haru-chan. You gotta, too.”

“Easy for you to say.”

They fell into a silent moment, which led to Haruko remembering what she and Oikawa were talking about last night, before their whole sexual mess began.

_“A lot of the time we become too focused on the people we've lost and forget about the people we still have in our lives.”_

Many things that were said that evening were lost to alcohol, but this? This one sentence was stuck in her mind ever since. And it didn’t feel like it only applied to people, but to experiences, to opportunities, to so many things that were still ahead of her. It was invigorating.

She started wondering if this was why she started having more of a “fuck it” point of view to things all of a sudden, including and not limited to doing whatever she was doing with Oikawa.

It was nice.

He was into it.

She was into it.

And heck, if this was going to distract her from whatever shitty time the world throws at her…

“Fuck it.”

Terushima raised his head and looked at his friend. “Huh?”

“Fuck it, Teru.” Haruko got up, throwing her bag over her shoulder, “Friends with benefits it is.”

He blinked a few times before following her lead, “Uh. Okay, well, that’s sudden… But good for you!”

“So, where to next?” the girl asked, not wanting to linger on the conversation before he brings something dirty up. Because he was bound to.

“Mmm…” Terushima gave it some thought, looking at his shopping bag, “Well, I’m pretty much done, so, let me give you a lift home?”

With a noise of approval from Haruko, they headed towards the exit.

* * *

 

“Oh, wait, hang on!”

Before Haruko could head into her apartment building, Terushima stopped her in her tracks, “I forgot to give you these!”

She turned around to see him digging through his backpack that he placed on his motorcycle’s seat, and a moment later he handed her a plastic food container with something inside. Haruko raised her eyebrow and opened it to take a peek inside.

“Brownies?” she squinted and went in a little closer to sniff them, then looked back at Terushima. “…Space cakes? Really?”

“To say thank you for keeping me company today!” he said, standing proud with a stupid smile on his face.

Haruko smirked at him, “…You made too many and didn’t want them to go bad, huh?”

“Ahh…” he looked to the side, “I told the guys back at the dorms that it’s gonna be too much, but they didn’t listen…”

Haruko snorted, putting them in her bag and turning around again, “It’s fine, they’re free, not like I’m complaining. Thanks, Teru.”

“Have fuuuun!”

She left his sing-song voice behind and made her way into her apartment building. The elevator slowly approached the ground floor, and once she got on, she pressed her floor button and started rummaging through her bag for her keys.

Halfway up Haruko started getting worried. She couldn’t have lost them, right? She checked all her pockets (which didn’t take long because we all know women’s clothing sometimes has a negative number of pockets), and then went back to searching her bag.

Just before the elevator reached her floor, it hit her.

_Right. I asked Oikawa to leave them under the doormat. Duh._

Haruko sighed in relief, and as the doors opened, she stepped out and turned left to where her apartment was.

… Only to be startled by the very same Oikawa sitting next to her door. He had noticed her as soon as she came out of the elevator.

Think of the devil. And he was wearing those stupid cute glasses of his again.

“ _What_ are you doing he-..”

He didn’t say anything, but Haruko trailed off as he put his hand in his pocket and a moment later raised it, holding a phone. A phone with a very familiar phone case.

_…My phone?_

Confused, Haruko furrowed her eyebrows, tapped her pockets again and had another quick look at her bag. Then looked back at Oikawa. That was definitely her phone case, and that was definitely her phone.

“How did I not-.. How did you-?.. _What?_ ”

Still confused, she approached him as he was getting up from the floor, and he handed her the phone.

“How is it that I keep ending up with things that you leave behind, hmm?”

* * *

 

Still partly in his sportswear (a very stupid combination of ‘no shirt, only jacket’) Oikawa started walking home after leaving Haruko and Terushima behind.

Between the thoughts of ‘ _what just happened_ ’ and ‘ _this is uncomfortable, I can’t wait to change_ ’, one more thought of ‘ _damn, it got cold again_ ’ crossed his mind, and he put his hands in his pockets, only to remember something he had forgotten about.

“Shit, Ike-“, he turned around, only to see his friend long gone, “-eeeh god damnit.”

He looked down at his palm where her phone was resting. After Terushima had called her, she put her phone away at a very awkward angle in her pocket, and it had fallen out when she was getting up. Thankfully Oikawa noticed and picked it up, but not wanting to make even more noise or delay their… ‘escape’, he put it in his own pocket until they got out of their ridiculous situation.

All would have been nice and dandy if he had actually remembered to give it back. And with everything that was happening, it was easy to forget.

_Maybe I can call Terushima to bring her back for a sec…_

Oikawa clicked the button on the side of her phone, but was greeted with a fingerprint recognition screen. Great.

He cursed in his head – he didn’t have Terushima’s number himself, so there was pretty much nothing he could do. He sighed, put the phone back in his pocket and started heading home again. There was way too much on his mind and he really wanted to go home, take a shower and change. This would have to wait until tomorrow, whether she likes it or not.

* * *

 

Iwaizumi: You left the light on at the club room. And the window open. I don’t know about you but I don’t wanna have my shit stolen thanks to your irresponsibility.

Oiks: okay dad

Iwaizumi: You are so lucky I can’t digitally smack you.

Oiks: alright alright sorry

Oiks: I genuinely forgot

* * *

 

Oikawa was stretched out on a sofa, typing away at their group chat, letting his hair dry out. The shower cleared his head a little, but the short chat brought him back to reality, seeing as he had to lie his way out of it. It wasn’t much, but it still sucked lying to his best friend.

But it was this versus telling Iwaizumi what he really did, and that was out of the question.

He glanced over at Haruko’s phone that was on the coffee table next to the sofa. It’s been buzzing because she was in the same group chat.

He wondered what he should say to her tomorrow. Not about the phone, just… in general.

_What are we?_

Friends with benefits was the first thing to come to his mind following that question. Do people even do that in real life? Or was that just a movie thing? No, it was pretty much the same as casual sex, right? And that was definitely a thing.

_Not like we actually got to that… Stupid Iwa-chan…_

Grumbly and irritated about being oh so rudely interrupted earlier, he put his phone away next to Haruko’s and looked up at the ceiling.

Oh, how Oikawa hated leaving things unfinished.

I mean, he had to admit that there was something about nearly getting caught that was fun, in a messed up way, but… but still. This, amongst many other things, was really bugging him.

Another thing that bugged him was being jealous that she left with Terushima, but he shoved that emotion into the very back corner of his mind and decided to ignore it as much as he could.

_I wonder if she noticed that her phone’s gone…_

And was she still out with party boy? He glanced over to it for the billionth time.

And this time an idea popped into his head. A bad one, probably, but an idea nonetheless.

He graciously jumped from the sofa and went to the bathroom to blow dry his hair. Oikawa’s apartment was considerably bigger than Haruko’s, with a big living room connected to a small-ish kitchen, and a hallway that led to the bathroom and his bedroom. It was situated on the third floor and the living room also had a small balcony connected to it. That living room was precisely why every Friday night he would end up being the host to a bunch of his drunk teammates – everyone else was either living in tiny apartments and house shares, or staying with their parents.

Once he finished drying his hair, Oikawa went to get dressed. Not wanting to waste too much time, he picked out whatever outfit he found first, hoping that it won’t be too long until it comes off and-

Ah. He then figured he should probably stop thinking about that if he doesn’t want any more blood to rush into his underwear.

Moving on.

Before leaving the bedroom, his eyes caught on the glasses he left on his dresser when he came back.

_…Glasses me is 15 outta 10, huh?_

He grabbed them and rushed back into the living room for one final item before leaving – we call it the ‘excuse to go see Haruko again and maybe possibly finish what he started’.

Her phone.

* * *

 

Oikawa tried ringing the doorbell. No answer.

_Maybe her doorbell’s broken?_

He knocked once. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer.

That could only mean that Haruko was still out with Terushima. He pressed his back against the door and slid down, groaning and praying to whoever was listening that she would come back soon. He took out his own phone. 8:37pm. They’ve been gone for several hours now.

_Look at me, I’m Terushima Yuuji and I’m so fucking fun to be around… Gehh…_

Oikawa opened a generic match 3 game on his phone to pass the time, which he hoped he wouldn’t have to play for long because it was SO. BORING.

Thankfully he didn’t. Maybe 15 minutes or so later the elevator nearby made a ‘ding!’ noise, making Oikawa nearly snap his neck turning towards it.

_Please don’t be a neighbor, please don’t be a neighbor, please don’t be a neighbor…_

And it sure wasn’t.

* * *

 

“It fell out of your pocket earlier today. I was going to give it back to you, promise, it’s just that when Terushima showed up I kind of forgot.” Oikawa said, after giving the phone to her. Hands in his pockets, he watched Haruko put it away.

“Holy shit, thank you… I would have been down like 60,000 yen…” she sighed in relief, still confused about how she didn’t notice it’s gone the whole time she was with Terushima. She bent down to take her keys from under the doormat and began unlocking the door. “You didn’t have to come all the way here though, jeez… Could have just told me on the group chat or something, I would have checked it from my laptop...”

“Nah it’s okay, I didn’t have to go far.”

He did. He walked for around 40 minutes to get to her place.

“Did you have to wait for long?” she worried.

“Nah.”

At least that one wasn’t a lie.

“Okay, well,” she opened the door to her apartment, “come in, at least I’ll treat you to something for the trouble. If I can find anything in my fridge, that is…”

Oikawa pressed his lips together to stop himself from blurting out exactly what kind of a treat he would like (hint: it was a sexual one.) and followed her in. She locked up, took some plastic box out of her bag before throwing the bag on the stairs that led to her bed and, after hanging both of their jackets up, motioned him to follow her to the kitchen.

It was a tiny, tiny walk-in kitchen, with a small counter separating it from the rest of the apartment. Small talk in place, Haruko put the plastic box on that counter and went to open the fridge, while Oikawa sat down on a lonely bar stool that was in front of it and rested his arms on the countertop.

Head buried in the fridge, she was mumbling about not having much to offer, rummaging through it, as well as the freezer.

Haruko seemed to be in her own headspace, which, for some reason, Oikawa found really endearing and… relaxing, even? He figured that she must have been tired after a long day, not to mention everything that’s happened. It was kind of nice to see her in the evening like this, winding down. But it started to seem like the idea to come here and finish what he-...what  _they_ started... wasn't such a good idea after all, especially when Oikawa began to realize that he's quite tired, too. But hey, who knows where the evening will take them, right?

His chin resting on his hand, he eyed the box she had plopped down on the countertop. Curious, he slid it over to himself and opened it while Haruko was still distracted scavenging for something good.

…Brownies?

_If you’re gonna say you don’t have anything to offer, at least don’t put something you blatantly don’t wanna share right in front of me, jeez…_

And of course, being the little shit that he is, he took one out and bit half of it off without asking.

Chewing on it, Oikawa raised his eyebrow in confusion. Can brownie mix go old? Or did someone make these with their own recipe and royally fucked them up?

He swallowed it and spoke up, “Hey, these taste weird.”

Haruko closed the fridge and started turning to him, “What tastes wei-OH WOAH WOAH WOAH,” her eyes went wide and she grabbed the other half of the brownie from his hand, “PUT THAT DOWN.”

Oikawa froze in place, staring at her. “The fuck?”

She froze for a moment, too, as slight panic started coming over her, “So, um... a quick, unrelated question: have you ever done weed before?” she blurted out.

He squinted, taken aback a little by the sudden outburst, “Uhh… Yeah, like… Twice? Why though, how is this even related to-..”

Oikawa stopped mid-sentence after realization hit and glanced over to the brownie half that she was holding. Then looked back at her.

“…Oooooh… Oh _that’s_ why they tasted weird.”

Haruko used her free hand to facepalm. “How?! How did you not notice the smell, or taste, or, or- just _how_?!”

“Wh-Do I look like I’m some weed expert to you? I just told you I’ve done it like twice in my life, and I’ve never _eaten_ it, how was I supposed to know?!” Oikawa argued.

“I don’t know! You could have at least asked, jeez!” she sighed, trying to calm down and figure out what to do, “Do you- This is obviously gonna sound gross, but do you want me to help you throw up or something? I dunno? Ugh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left them there, I'm an idiot…”

Tired, end of the day Haruko was such a worrywart that all Oikawa could do was snort at her little panic mode.

“Ike-chan, calm down, will you?”

She stopped fiddling about at looked at him.

“It’s _fine_. It’s not _poison_ that I ate. Sure, not exactly how I planned to spend my evening, but… whatever? It was free, I guess.” he chuckled.

She sighed, “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Oikawa rolled his eyes, “Now will you stop worrying? Come on, how strong can these be?”

“Well… Hmm…” she looked down at the half she was still holding, realizing she had no idea because she never asked Terushima, and then proceeded to throw it in her mouth. “Ghuess we’he abouht to fihnd out.”

Oikawa smiled at the fact that she finally stopped panicking. Plus, seeing her join in made him relieved that he won’t be the only one tripping and most likely making a complete fool out of himself in the process.

Haruko closed the box with the rest of the brownies and put it in the fridge.

“Alright, come on. I’ll take my laptop upstairs, we can order some takeaway before the brownies kick in.” she said, shaking her head at the really stupid turn of events, “We’re gonna need it.”

* * *

 

 **AN:** me, completely aware that _I’m_ the one writing this trainwreck: OIKAWA YOU _IDIOT_.

Pfff okay well this was really fun to write. Buuuut before I get into the next chapter (and I mean, you can see where it’s going) I wanna say a few things:

First of all – if you’re underage and/or weed is illegal where you are, _don’t do it fam._

I mean, technically, if you're underage you shouldn't even be reading anything rated M/E, but shit, I perfectly remember what kind of garbage I was reading when I was 15-16, so that's none of my business lol.

Second, if you ignore that and do it anyway, for the love of everything ever, _PLEASE_ make sure it’s from a reliable source. Otherwise you do not know what kind of garbage it is laced with.

The thing with weed is that nearly everyone around my age does it, but no one really talks about it until they realize that ‘oh you too huh’. Literally, every single person in my university course (I _just_ graduated) has done it at least once, or is still doing it. My group of friends, too. Pretty much everyone I know. It is such a common thing, and shit, it isn’t even legal where I live!! Great example to be setting, I know. Idk how good of an idea it is to say that on a fanfiction website but like. Idk. I’ve always found it weird how much of a shushed thing it is.

And because it’s such a shushed thing, it’s a lot more dangerous. Because it’s illegal, you can’t have 100% confirmed reliable sources, which is why I’m saying that if you’re gonna do it anyway, BE SAFE YA DING-DONGS.

Love u.

Another note is that I’m a little unsure of my capabilities to write the next chapter, because everyone has a different experience and I can really only input my own. But hopefully it will go well!

Also also thank you so much for all the kudos and comments!! Makes my heart so happy, so glad to see so many of you still here despite the impromptu hiatus I had. Whenever I see a new comment I’m like mmmmMMMM TIME TO OPEN MICROSOFT WORD even though I really should be working lol. You guys are the best! ♥


	20. Chapter 20

**98 percent**

**Chapter 20**

“Oikawa.”

Everything was _really_ heavy.

“Hmm?”

Oikawa lazily looked over to Haruko who was sitting next to him on her janky bed, which, as we all know, is just a mattress on the floor. He was leaning his back on the wall behind him, one leg tucked under the other to make space for her laptop in front of them.

They had been watching alien conspiracy videos on YouTube for the past half an hour.

“The takeaway is here, I need to go downstairs. Are you gonna be okay?”

“Mhm.”

Slightly concerned, Haruko started getting up. Sure, her legs were heavy too, but because her body was used to weed, she was mostly fine. Just relaxed and a little slow.

Oikawa, though, was having a much harder time. Turns out he bit down more than half of that brownie before, not only leaving Haruko with less, but himself with more than what he should have had.

He had fallen awfully quiet for the past ten minutes, and Haruko was getting worried that he was going to have a bad trip simply because of trying to hold himself together.

From what he had told her, it’s not like this is new to him, but… he probably never had anything as strong before. Also, he probably didn’t want to make himself look like an idiot, considering she was mostly fine to witness it.

It’s Oikawa we’re talking about here. Of course he doesn’t want to get his pride and dignity hurt.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Oikawa watched her get up and head downstairs. He was happy to get a little bit of a breather and alone time because, oh god, everything was so heavy. He didn’t think those brownies would be so strong. What kind of an immune system did Terushima have?!

He wanted to relax, but he was really bothered by his brain not registering his actions. Or the other way around. Even answering a yes or no question was difficult – he wanted to say “yeah” when Haruko asked if he’s okay, but it wouldn’t come out. And when he finally said “mhm”, for a few seconds he wasn’t able to register that he replied.

Oikawa closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled. He needed to calm down.

_This isn’t new, just… a little worse than I expected._

Without anything to look at, he automatically started focusing on the sounds around him. The small window above him was open, letting a slight breeze in, as well as noise from the street below.

Even if they were all the way up on the 8th floor, he could hear everything clearly. One by one, cars were passing by and disappearing into the distance.

The repetitive noise was making him relax a little. He yawned and opened his eyes. It was late, though he had no idea how late exactly. Haruko had been gone for a while now. Didn’t she just go get their takeaway from the delivery person? She should have been back by now.

Oikawa had forgotten what exactly they ordered, but any food would be nice right about now.

His ears picked up on a siren in a nearby street, probably an ambulance. He squinted, trying to focus on it; it was really soothing for some reason. It felt like the siren was getting further, and further, and further, but it wouldn’t stop ringing in his ears no matter how far it got. He could definitely feel it getting further, he was certain that the siren was getting quieter. So why could he still hear it? It should have disappeared by now.

He kept focusing on it.

Some time passed.

Then some more.

It’s been nearly ten minutes, how could he possibly still hear a siren that should have been _miles_ away?

Also, Haruko still wasn’t back. Oikawa started getting worried. And hungry. He was already hungry, now he was hungrier.

The stupid siren wouldn’t stop ringing in his ears. What if something happened to Haruko and it’s actually coming for them? Wait, no, then the siren would be getting closer, not further. But what if he can’t tell if it’s getting closer because he’s high?

Oikawa started to become a little paranoid and restless. He had to go figure out where Haruko went, otherwise this would only get worse.

If he could… get up in the first place.

Still sitting in the same position, still staring at the same spot, he grew even more restless. He could barely lift his arms, let alone stand up. Everything was so, _so_ heavy.

And the cars outside were so loud, especially that awful siren. It was soothing at first, but now it was getting on his nerves. He wanted to get up and close the window, but alas, that would take an incredible amount of effort and strength to do.

However, he was tall. He had long arms.

_I do. I do have long arms._

If he could at least do this, then maybe, just maybe he would find enough strength in himself to go find Haruko, too.

Oikawa lifted his head so he could see the window. He took a deep breath and used all of his strength to life his hands in the air and above his head, leaning them on the wall behind him for extra support.

He stretched them out as much as he could, yet he could only touch the edge of the glass above him with his fingertips. And since it was opened in an upwards position, it wasn’t enough to close it. Thanks, physics.

“Come on…” he whispered, still trying to reach a little further with all his might.

“Well you look distressed. Need a hand there?”

Oikawa’s eyes shot down from the window to the person in front of the bed.

“You’re back!” he said with a hint of relief in his voice, both about Haruko being back, and about dropping his incredibly heavy arms back down.

Oh thank goodness she was okay. “Where _were_ you..?” he continued, almost insulted that she made him worry.

“Um… I was getting our food?” she said questioningly, going over to the other side of the bed with some Chinese takeaway boxes and chopsticks.

“For AN HOUR? What happened?”

She sat down on the bed and crossed her legs and squinted at him. “…Oikawa, I’ve only been gone for like a minute…”

“…What?”

A stupid smile was making its way on Haruko’s face. “It’s been no more than a minute, dude.”

“…You’re lying.”

Haruko snorted. She knew she shouldn’t be laughing but she couldn’t help herself. She handed him a box. “No, look, food’s still warm. I literally just went downstairs, got these from the delivery guy and came back.”

Oikawa slowly took the box from her and put it on his lap. He couldn’t help but stare down at it. The box was indeed still warm.

“…You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

He looked over to Haruko, who was slowly unpacking her own box, and she was doing a really poor job at trying to hold her laugh in. All he could do is make a displeased face at her.

This was gonna be a long night.

“Do you… want some help with that?”, she asked, still snickering. This whole impromptu weed night was still technically her fault, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t funny watching Oikawa struggle.

“…No…”

Oikawa put his hands on top of the box. The smell coming from Haruko’s share was so good…

He put his fingers on the sides of the box to pull the flaps open.

…

They wouldn’t move. He couldn’t pull the box flaps open. He was so hungry, but no matter how badly he tried to pull them apart, he couldn’t. It felt like they were glued together.

He could still see Haruko snickering in his peripheral vision. She was definitely watching him and was definitely entertained by his struggles.

Slowly, the ridiculousness of the situation started hitting him too, and with everything being way funnier than it should be at the moment, Oikawa couldn’t help himself – he started snickering too.

After another failed attempt of trying to open his takeaway box, he gave up and pushed his glasses up on his forehead, then sunk his face into his hands, laughing.

“Do you-pff…”, Haruko started, “Do you want me to-ahah, open it for you?”

All Oikawa could do at this point was nod frantically.

* * *

 

“Are you… are you crying..?”

“Ike-chan, look… These are the best noodles-… No, this is the best thing ever… that I have _ever_   tasted in my life... No don’t- don’t laugh at me, I’m serious, holy shit…”

“I’m not-ahah-I’m not laughing at you, they’re good noodles, but like, you’re-you’re CRYING over them ohhh my god-“

“You know what – maybe, just maybe I’m a little worse off than you right now, but you know what? You know what, Ike-chan?”

“What?”

“...At least I have better noodles.”

“THEY’RE THE SAME EXACT NOODLES, YOU DING DONG.”

“…Okay, I have a better noodle… experience, then.”

“A what? You have a what?”

“A better noodle experience.”

“…”

“…”

“…PFF-AHAHAHAH-“

“What are you laughing at, it’s a valid point-“

* * *

 

After a few hours (actual hours, not Trippy-kawa hours) passed, the noise outside went away as the town fell asleep. The two had been watching dumb YouTube compilations the whole time, chilling together without a care in the world. The high was slowly wearing off.

Haruko looked down at the boy who was unceremoniously using her lap as a pillow, looking at her laptop’s screen which was playing the –nth vine. “How are you feeling?”

“Hm-oh, yeah, I think I’m alright now.” Oikawa yawned, “Just a little slow.”

“Do you have class in the morning?”

Oikawa groaned and got back up into a proper sitting position and scratched his head. “Uuugh, yeah… What time is it?”

Haruko stopped whatever was playing and looked at the clock in the corner.

“Almost 4am…”

“Fuck…”

She chuckled, getting up from the bed to look for something, “Yeah… Sorry again about-“

“Stoooop apologizing.” Oikawa interrupted, “I’m the one who ate the brownies without asking. Besides, it was fun. Again, not how I planned to spend my evening, but fun nonetheless.”

“Hey yeah, you keep saying that – how _did_ you plan to spend your evening? Did I interrupt something?” she wondered.

“Ah…” he panicked a little, relieved that Haruko was distracted with rummaging through her drawers, “No, just… I meant that I didn’t plan for _this_ exactly, I was probably going to binge some TV show at home.”

Oikawa was glad his speech was coming back to him because this was not a good time to fumble over his words or blurt out why he actually came here. Come to think of it… now what? He figured he could probably get an Uber to take him home, but at this hour it would probably take forever to-

“Okay then, here you go.”

He snapped out of his thoughts when Haruko threw a towel at him.

“The bathroom is right next to the kitchen. Just don’t take too long,” she yawned, “I need a shower too and I wanna get at least some sleep before class. I don’t have anything to offer for you to sleep in, though, sorry…”

Wait. He was sleeping _here_?

“Mm… I’ll live.”

He continued sitting there, looking at her.

“…Well? What are you waiting for?”

“Oh. Right.” Oikawa shook his head and started getting up. “Sorry, I’m still a little out of it.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, still a little worried.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. At least I can get up now.” he chuckled and started heading downstairs.

“Alright… Don’t take too long!”

“I heard ya, I heard ya.”

* * *

 

_Wait. I literally look a shower before coming here. I’m an idiot._

Oikawa stared at his wet hair in the mirror in Haruko’s bathroom, cursing his idiot brain for only catching up with him now. Great, now he would have to dry and style it all over again.

He slipped back into his pants, and, after throwing his shirt and towel over his shoulder, walked out and went back upstairs. It was still a little difficult to lift his legs and walk straight, but nowhere near what it was like before. If anything, he was pleasantly relaxed, and that would only help him fall asleep.

He found Haruko sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed and scrolling on her phone. She had a bundle of clothes and a towel next to her ready to go - she was clearly waiting for him to be done.

Haruko glanced up and Oikawa noticed her eyes widen a little before they shot back down at her phone a split second later.

Ah. Right. His brain didn’t register the fact that he probably shouldn’t be walking around shirtless in someone else’s home.

She was clearly blushing though, and Oikawa was going to collect any ego points he could get his hands on anytime, any day, so he decided not to do anything about it and enjoy the silent praise.

He watched her get up and head downstairs after leaving her phone to charge near the bed and grabbing her towel and clothes, all without saying a word.

Oikawa sat down on the bed, rubbing his wet hair with the towel he was given.

Then he realized another thing.

_Wait. Am I sleeping HERE here?_

Not like he hasn’t slept in her bed before, but those were _very_ different circumstances.

* * *

 

_The audacity that that man has to walk around without a shirt in MY apartment like it’s no big deal…_

Haruko sighed, in both relief and frustration. A hot shower was an absolute blessing after this trainwreck of a day. She wanted to knock herself out for feeling guilty and not wanting to make Oikawa go home at this hour. At first she thought that having him sleep in the same bed wouldn’t be a big deal, but the moment he came back from the shower shirtless, she remembered that oh, right, there’s some questionable shit going on between them.

Truth be told, though, she was thinking about what Terushima said all evening. The same words playing over and over in her head.

_“Oikawa made his move, woman, now it’s your turn – the only bad thing you’re doing now is leaving the poor horny idiot in the dark.”_

As the evening went on, she started to realize that, knowing Oikawa, there was no way he dragged his ass all the way to her apartment just to give her phone back. Haruko had no idea how far away he lived, but whether it was five minutes or an hour, he wouldn’t do that just to be nice.

So, most likely, he used that as an excuse, and whatever the actual reason was, it was derailed by how the rest of the night went.

She could narrow it down to a very small number of guesses on why he was actually here. So over the evening, she kept trying to figure out how to go by Teru’s advice and make a move, but…

Haruko sighed.

There was no other way to put this.

She was an absolute bottom and had no idea how to initiate these things herself.

She leaned back on the glass wall of the shower and let the hot water run down her body. It wasn’t just that, even if she worked up the nerve to make a move on her own, Oikawa was as high as a kite a few hours ago. He seemed to be mostly okay _now_ , but before... it would have been really messed up to start anything when one of them could barely even stand.

And now it was probably too late to do anything about it. It was past 3am, and while she was in the shower Oikawa had probably fallen asleep. Which was for the best, she thought, they both needed some sleep before class tomorrow.

But the whole time they were hanging out, every move-making scenario she thought about eventually led to her thinking about what would happen next if it were to work out. And she was glad that Oikawa was too high to notice her constantly snapping out of incredibly explicit thoughts.

Haruko knew this would have to wait until another day, but… obviously, constantly thinking about these things can sure make a person horny.

She groaned. There was no way she was going to fall asleep like this. Especially not with the shirtless idiot in her bed.

While a thought about getting off next to him while he was asleep sounded like a fun concept, it was _way_ too risky. So the shower would have to do.

Haruko turned around and put her left arm on the glass wall, giving her a place to lean her head on. She let the water run down her back and buried her other hand between her legs. Despite being in the shower, her fingers glided without any resistance, thanks to the full evening of explicit thoughts.

She let out a small satisfied moan, realizing how much she needed this for hours now. She tried to keep it quiet, though, but wasn’t too worried – even if Oikawa wasn’t asleep, it’s not like he could hear her all the way upstairs.

Haruko couldn’t even compare this to whatever magic he did to her last night, but it was still nice. It was better than nothing, anyway. And with the thoughts of Oikawa-related scenarios keeping her company, it shouldn’t take long.

One of them was: what if she left the shower with nothing but a towel? If he was still awake, what would he do? Would he come over and run his fingers on whatever skin he could get them on, before slowly taking it off? Or would he come over and unceremoniously rip it off before pinning her to a wall?

She moaned again. Both would be good outcomes.

What about if she ‘accidentally’ walked in on him while he was in the shower? She lived alone – the lock on the bathroom door wasn’t even working. She could have. She wouldn’t have an excuse, and Oikawa would deduct in a split second that she did that on purpose – and maybe he would pull her into the shower with him.

Haruko let out another audible sigh. Having him behind her, running his hands wherever he pleased would have been such a blessing right about now.

Plus, that would mean he would have to be completely naked, unless he would want to get his clothes wet and have nothing to wear to university in the morning. Which also meant she could finally, just maybe, get a glimpse of his dick. Mentally sizing him up earlier today was nowhere near enough – if she could at least taste it…

Or better yet, have him ram it in her.

“Ngh… Tooru…”

…So, you can imagine that at this moment, and in this state, she absolutely froze in shock when the handle on the bathroom door went down, and the man in question stumbled in, falling on the floor _backwards_ with a very loud thump.

“OW…”

It didn’t take Oikawa long to realize what kind of situation he had just caused, so, still laying on his back, his eyes darted up to meet Haruko’s absolutely terrified and livid ones.

His mind quickly raced through all his dialogue options. Option A was ‘I can explain’. Option B was ‘I’m sorry’.

But of course, Oikawa being… Oikawa… his face turned into a stupid, guilty smile, and he went with C, the chaotic neutral option:

“Heh… You called?”

* * *

 

 **AN:** I’m crackin’ myself up here THIS IS COMEDY GOLD

And yes yes I’m aware I’m leaving y’all on a cliffhanger again, but it’s either this or no chapter for even longer because writing anything explicit takes me ages and my boyfriend is gonna be home from work in like 20min. And there’s no way I’m writing this next to him :’D god tho what wouldn’t I give for him to bang me in an Oikawa shirt. I’d never tell him that tho, jfc, I’d never hear the end of it :’DDD So alas here I am with a self-indulgent fanfic instead lol. ENJOY :')


	21. Chapter 21

**98 percent**

**Chapter 21**

After Haruko left to take a shower, Oikawa decided to lay down. He sat back up a moment later, though, shaking his head – he was super tired and knew that if he lays down for more than five seconds, he _will_ fall asleep. And if he falls asleep with his hair still wet, he would wake up looking like he was struck by lightning.

Oikawa looked around the room. No hairdryer in sight. Maybe downstairs?

He got up and made his way down to the living room (?), but still had no luck finding a hairdryer. It wasn’t near Haruko’s desk, nor in the hallway. He kept his own in one of the drawers in his room – like most people, he would put it away while it’s not being used. But (strangely enough) Oikawa didn’t want to snoop around.

Sometimes even he knows what common courtesy is! Sometimes.

He sighed and made his way towards the kitchen – the door to the bathroom was just to the left of the kitchen counter. An odd place to put one, but hey, you gotta make do when the apartment is so tiny.

Just a few steps away from the bathroom door, as he was raising his hand to knock on it, and opening his mouth to call out to Haruko and ask where the hairdryer was… he froze.

_Did I just… hear what I think I heard?_

Oikawa put his hand back down and softened his steps. He approached the door and carefully pressed his back against it.

_No way…_

His lips curled up into a smirk.

Soft and familiar moans were coming from inside the bathroom, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what Haruko was doing in there.

That’s about where Oikawa’s understanding of common courtesy ends. He crossed his arms in front of him, threw one foot over the opposite leg and, leisurely leaning on the door, continued eavesdropping.

_I mean, I get that you don’t like confrontation, but being so stuck up that you corner yourself into getting off alone instead of using the resources that you have… You could have just asked, you’re ridiculous, Ike-chan…_

Oikawa snickered quietly to himself. He figured that there had to be something off about her the whole evening if she was brave enough to be getting off while there was a _guest_ in her home, but he was probably too high to notice. Which was a shame, because fiddly, embarrassed and bothered Haruko was always fun to watch.

He closed his eyes and continued listening. Obviously, whatever noises were coming from behind the door were sending blood into his underwear, and he started thinking what to do about it.

Nothing wasn’t an option. Should he call her out when she’s done and ask her if she had fun? No, that would probably be too late if he wanted to… be a part of things. He didn’t want to startle her too badly either. The door didn’t have a functioning lock on it, maybe he could try opening it quietly and let himself in without her noticing? But that would depend on where she was looking.

“Ngh… Tooru…”

Instead, Oikawa was the one who got startled – he didn’t expect her to be thinking specifically about _him_! His train of thought was cut off and none of his plans went into action – because he got startled, he lost his balance just a teeny tiny bit, and trying to straighten himself out, he accidentally pressed down the door handle with his butt.

The next thing he knew - he was falling backwards.

_Uh oh._

* * *

 

“I swear, I was just after the hairdryer!” Oikawa said, lifting his hands in front of him in a defensive manner.

“Right, cause we all magically obtain hairdryers by _eavesdropping_ on people while they’re taking a shower!”

Haruko had grabbed the towel she had hanging on the shower door, wrapped it around herself, stormed out of the glass cubicle and was ready to skin Oikawa alive before he jumped to his feet and pressed his back to the wall behind him, explaining himself. Not like that was helping. At all.

“Well… That wasn’t _exactly_ what you were doing…” he smirked.

You’d think he was digging himself deeper, but he knew all too well how easily he could gain the upper hand with how Haruko was.

And he was right, because her cheeks were burning up even more than before.

“Wh- You- I-…”

Oikawa raised his eyebrows and leaned forward little, continuing, “And it’s not like I asked you to stop, either.”

“UGH!” frustrated, she turned around and crossed her arms, facing the counter. Anything to escape his stupid, smug look. “You’re _unbelievable_!”

That did not help though, seeing as there was a mirror in front of the counter, and after noticing how red she was (and getting another glimpse of Oikawa’s stupid face) she tilted her head down and closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

Was he going to leave her alone anytime soon or continue tormenting her? Seriously, _what_ is his problem?

Haruko heard him sigh behind her a few seconds later and felt movement behind her. If he was going to leave without even apologizing-

“If you’re not going to finish what you started…”

She gasped to the feeling of Oikawa’s bare chest pressing against her back and his breath right next to her ear as he trapped her between the counter and himself.

“…I will.”

She felt his fingers running up her thigh, as well as his lips on her neck, just below her ear. His other hand rested on the edge of the counter in front of her.

“What-..” Haruko spoke up, but cut herself off after looking in the mirror in front of her. Oikawa was looking into her eyes through the mirror with his own half-lidded ones.

And god was that look hard to resist.

His hand reached between her legs and his finger ran through her folds, teasing her clit. Haruko closed her eyes and put her hands down on the counter for support – she could feel her heartbeat speeding up with every one of Oikawa’s movements.

She felt him smirk into the crook of her neck as his finger continued to glide and tease her, making lewd noises come from between her thighs because of how wet she was before he dropped in.

“You've been busy…” he hummed.

“Oh shut up…”

“Mm, how about I shut _you_ up instead?”

He used his free hand to take a hold of her neck and jaw, turning her head to the side and smashing his lips into hers. She let out a small moan, slowly sinking into the pleasure, leaving the frustration and stress behind. Because Oikawa was pressing himself against her back, she could feel his bulge getting even harder than before, and just the thought of what this _finally_ might be leading to was turning her on even more.

He kept kissing her and playing with her clit, slowly turning her into a moaning mess. One part of him was getting impatient, but another part of him was enjoying the noises that she was making – the noises that she was making for _him_.

And it wasn’t just that. It was about how her whole body was responding to him – she was heating up with every move he made, gentle or rough. He took a lot of pride in how good he made her feel, and he’d be damned if he didn’t do his best.

Soon Oikawa’s hand ducked a little lower and Haruko groaned in pleasure when he slid a finger inside her. He broke away from kissing her and turned her face towards the mirror, making her look at him while he bit her ear.

“You have no idea how much I want to fuck you right here on this counter.” he whispered.

“Then what-ngh..- are you waiting for?” Putting a sentence together while he was fingering her was a little difficult. Haruko was getting impatient too, not to mention that she had already been playing with herself before this happened.

“Nothing. I just really like teasing you.” he smirked, letting go of her jaw and yanking her towel off her. Oikawa carelessly threw it somewhere on the floor, and once his hand was free, he wrapped it around her and used it to play with her clit, while the other one was still fingering her. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but…

“Fuck- Tooru…”

…but it was oh so worth it.

Oikawa buried his face in the crook of her neck, kissing it, careful around bruise he made earlier. He couldn’t help but keep glancing at the mirror in front of them, enjoying the sight of the moaning, panting mess he’d made of Haruko. Not to mention the lewd faces she was making… he wished he could frame them.

The more he played with her, the more apparent her impatience was becoming. He could feel her butt rubbing against his crotch, even if ever so slightly.

“Someone’s impatient.” he smirked, looking at her through the mirror, intending to continue teasing her.

But the look she gave him…

“Please…”

…and the way she said that made him realize how much on the edge he was too.

Oikawa freed his hands and took her by the hips to spin her around to face him, then swiftly lifted her up on the counter. He gave Haruko a rough kiss while her hands darted down to undo his belt. He used the few seconds while she was busy to get some things out of the way:

“Condoms?”

“I’m on the pill, it’s fine.” she replied hastily, but looked up at him a moment later, “Unless-“

“Mm.” Oikawa shook his head, cutting her off, “I’m clean.” he said, knowing exactly what she was about to ask.

Both of them knew the other wouldn’t be stupid enough to lie about something like that to someone they’d see every day.

Getting these things out of the way put them both at ease. Oikawa decided she was taking a little too long with getting him out of his pants, so he placed one of his hands behind her neck to pull her into another rough kiss, while his other one went down to finish the job.

Haruko wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer, and put her hands around his neck, burying one hand in his soft, still damp hair.

A moment later she could feel his dick sliding down her folds, and she glanced down before he could go any further.

“Uhm… Just be gentle at first, it’s been a while…”

That… was definitely not the _only_ reason Haruko wanted him to be gentle. Mentally sizing him up was definitely not enough before. Who did he kill to get a body like this..?

“I’m only rough when you want me to be rough.” he whispered, pulling her into another kiss with his free hand, though much gentler this time.

Slowly and just as gently, he slid his dick inside her, feeling her exhale more and more with every inch. He kissed her again after putting it all the way in, giving her some time to get used to it.

“Ngh… I think it’s fine,” she whispered a few seconds later, “You can move.”

Oikawa adjusted himself a little, putting one arm on her hip for support and a better angle, and started moving, watching her reactions to make sure he wasn’t being too rough too soon.

It wasn’t easy holding himself from fucking her like an animal, but good things come to those who wait – and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

With every slow and steady thrust, he could feel her hands around his neck getting less tense, and her grunts turning into pleasant moans. Oikawa started picking up the pace, and he let go of the back of her neck so he could put both his hands on her hips. He pulled Haruko an inch closer to the edge of the counter and picked up the pace even more, enjoying her moan into his lips.

The pleasure soon started overwhelming the pain.

Haruko pulled back for a second, after her body got accommodated to things.

“Ah-I take it back,” she said, breathing heavily, “You’re allowed to be rough now.”

The moment she said that, Oikawa had the most devilish smirk come back on his face. “You might regret saying that.”

“I know.” she breathed, “I want you-.. to make me regret saying that.”

Didn’t have to ask him twice.

He slammed into her full force, filling her up with inches she didn’t even know he had, making her grunt loudly from the sudden force. But at this point Oikawa could easily tell her grunts apart, and that one was a pleased grunt. He let go of her hips and grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her, then slammed his lips into hers, essentially pinning her entire upper body to the mirror behind.

He started thrusting at an almost punishing speed and force, making her moan much louder than before.

Oikawa left her lips and latched onto her neck with his teeth, on the side that didn’t have a bruise. For now.

“Tooru-fuck! Ah-“

God, hearing his name was an absolute blessing. He kissed the bite he had just made on her neck and went back to her lips, mixing his tongue into the mix.

He missed that tongue ring of hers. Just the thought of that, at some point, he’ll probably get to see it on his dick, was making him even harder than he thought was possible.

“Harder-“ she moaned between kisses.

“Seriously? I’d rather not break you…”

To his surprise, Haruko yanked one of her arms from his grip and grabbed his jaw, making him stop in his tracks.

“I told you to make me regret it.”

Oikawa exhaled, almost mockingly, grabbed her wrist and pinned it back where it was, holding a much harder grip on her than before.

“ _You_ don’t get to tell me what to do.”

He slammed his dick into her even harder, almost knocking the air out of her lungs, focusing more on force rather than speed.

Of course she got to tell him what to do. He was literally doing exactly what she asked.

Loud moans and grunts filled the room as Oikawa continued thrusting into her with full force, shaking the entire counter. At this point, anything that was on it prior to this was now on the ground. He let go of her wrists, only to grab hold of her hips again, only much harder this time – Haruko was sure there were bound to be marks there in the morning.

She wrapped her arms around him, feeling sweat roll down his back – though he didn’t seem to want to stop anytime soon. Bless his athlete’s stamina. Haruko needed some sort of an outlet, something to grip while he was slamming into her with such relentless force. She dug her nails into his back, earning a satisfied grunt from Oikawa and remembering that she wasn’t the only one who liked sex with a slice of pain.

He smashed his lips into hers again, biting her lower lip as she dragged her nails down his back with every other thrust. Both of them had enough pent up sexual frustration to completely destroy each other.

“I want you-“ Oikawa spoke up after a while, breathing heavily, “-to cum while I’m fucking you. So,”

He pulled out with one rough motion and pulled her off the counter, then motioned to the side with his head, “shower.”

Haruko was partly frustrated that he stopped so abruptly, but also very interested in what he had in mind. She went ahead while he got rid of his pants entirely, then followed her in. Closing the glass door behind him, he motioned her to turn around. He made sure to make her lean on the wall bit, rather than the glass bit, not to break it.

Moments after she turned around, Oikawa pressed himself to her back, trapping her again. He laced his left hand with hers and pinned it above her, while using the right one to guide her back on his dick. He held her hip while he slid back into her, making Haruko let out a very satisfied moan thanks to the new angle.

With this angle he was able to reach her clit as well. His hand found her bundle of nerves and he continued teasing her where he left off before, only this time while fucking her as well.

She tried to say something, something between a swear, or his name, or just a moan, but the pleasure was so overwhelming she couldn’t put the words together. His dick was hitting all the right places while he was playing with her, at this rate she wasn’t sure if she could last long.

“Feel good?” Oikawa whispered.

All she could do was nod slightly.

He picked up the pace again, kissing the back of her neck. The new angle was much better for him too, slowly bringing him to the edge.

Oikawa kept going for a while, slamming into her and playing with her clit, kissing and biting her from behind, listening to her moan his name, no matter how broken the pronunciation was at this point. The more broken it became, the more apparent it was how close she was.

He heard a hitch in her breath.

“Tooru-nhh!”

Like music to his ears.

Oikawa freed both his hands and grabbed her hips, slamming into her even faster, fucking her through her orgasm, knocking both the voice and the breath out of her lungs.

Soon he let loose and threw himself over the edge too, cumming inside her.

He slowed down little bit by little bit, trying to even out his breathing while Haruko was doing the same. He rested his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.

They stayed like that for a bit, trying to wind down. After a while, Haruko spoke up, still breathing heavily.

“I’m… gonna guess you need a shower again?”

She felt Oikawa slowly nod on her shoulder and chuckled. “Okay, come on, it’s gonna be faster if you don’t have to wait for me to be done.”

She turned the water on and pulled him underneath with her.

* * *

 

The two of them were too tired to talk, or function at all, so without many words, they both headed upstairs after they were done with the shower. Oikawa didn’t give a single fuck about styling his hair, and neither did Haruko, the only thing they both cared about right now was getting some goddamn sleep before university.

Both of them plopped on the bed unceremoniously, Haruko face down even.

“If we’re gonna keep this up, promise me we won’t ever do this at stupid hours again.” she murmured.

“Agreed.”

One leg hanging off the mattress, Oikawa threw his arm over his eyes, since by now it was fairly bright outside.

Maybe, just maybe, they would have at least a few hours to sleep before univ-

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

“No… No no no no no…” Oikawa put both his hands on his face, murmuring quietly.

“…What is that?..” Haruko asked, lifting her head up to look at him.

“…My alarm…”

Her expression soon turned into one full of despair and denial.

7:30am. Time to get up and get ready for class.

* * *

 

 **AN:** This took SO long and I am so proud of how it came out, please validate me in the comments :’D

Only took me like 60k words to make them fuck. At this point this isn't even a Slow Burn fic, but like, a Painfully Slow Burn fic. I'm pretty sure I'm not even halfway in. R.i.p. lol.

Sorry for the mini impromptu hiatus btw! I was moving to a new apartment! We’re still living out of boxes, actually, but that’s mostly cause we’re lazy assholes.

Side note: I increased the rating to E because uh, this is getting pretty explicit!


	22. Chapter 22

**AN:** Two updates in two days! After over a month of silence! What’s consistency anyway!

* * *

 

**98 percent**

**Chapter 22**

“Okay, ground rules.”

“Fucking hell Ike-chan, now? Let me wake up first…”

Oikawa blew on his paper coffee mug, trying to cool it down faster. Him and Haruko picked up some coffee on the way to university – an incredibly important stop, considering neither of them got _any_ sleep last night.

“ _Now_ , pretty boy. If we’re gonna keep this up, the sooner the better.”

“Fiiine…” Oikawa groaned, “You know, you’re a lot more agreeable when you’re under me…”

“Okay, number one – no stupid jokes.”

“Overruled.”

Haruko snorted. “God, you’re unbearable…”

Smiling, she sipped on her coffee, then continued, “Seriously though, we need some ground rules. Cooperate with me here, will you?”

“Alright, alright. Hit me.”

“Right, one: we keep this on the down low. Like, really down low, buried under the ground down low. So down low it’s almost at the Earth’s core down low. _Noone_ finds out about this, got it?”

“Yeah, I’m fully with you on this one,” Oikawa said, “The guys would skin me alive… Not to mention, Iwa-chan would be on a manhunt after me.”

“Why Iwaizumi though? Isn’t he like, the one person you _could_ tell?” Haruko wondered.

“Ah, he… You know his dad personality. He gets overprotective… Aaand considering that you’re the only girl in our friend group…”

“Yeah, gotcha.”

One more coffee sip later, she continued, “Okay, so, two: no butt stuff. Not my thing.”

Oikawa chuckled. Boundaries are boundaries. “That’s fair.”

“Three: no sappy, affectionate shit. We’re still just friends and-“

“Overruled.” Oikawa stated again, as-a-matter-of-factly. “I love my friends, how sappy and/or affectionate I am with them has nothing to do with whether I’m sleeping with them or not.”

Haruko had to admit that he was right. He’s always been all touchy-feely, way before any of this was happening.

“Yeah, I guess…” she gave it some thought, “What I mean by that is like… None of this turns into a stupid, cheesy romance plot. No… _falling_ for each other or any of that crap.”

“Oh I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that.” Oikawa teased and pressed his lips together, snickering.

“Yea-HEY! What’s _that_ supposed to mean?!”

Oikawa snorted and tried to balance his coffee while avoiding Haruko who was trying to smack him for his snarky retort.

“As if _you’re_ a delight to be around!” she said, chuckling. “Okay, where was I? Number five-“

“Four.”

“Uh, four… What else… Actually, I think that’s about it. No telling anyone, no butt stuff and no romance.” she repeated, summing it up.

“Do I get to have any input on this or?” Oikawa asked.

“Shoot.”

“Okay, firstly, you’ve technically broken your first rule before you even made it. I’m guessing Terushima knows?”

“Uuh…” she pressed her lips together, “Sort… of? Technically he’s the one who suggested the whole friends with benefits thing… But he doesn’t know I’ve gone through with it already. He knew I was going to, though.”

“Wait, wait,” Oikawa smirked, “Just how long _did_ _you_ know you’re gonna go through with it?”

“UH… Well…” she blushed, “I dunno, like, since yesterday? After I talked to Teru…”

The boy next to her chuckled, “Seriously?.. I should have just done what I came over for last night…”

“Ah,” she eyed him as he was sipping on his coffee, still, “So I was right, you weren’t just being nice and bringing me my phone, huh?”

“Excuse _you_ , I am the nicest person you will ever-pffhaha okay yeah no, I wasn’t, and, y’know what, rule number four: from now on we don’t tiptoe around this shit anymore. If it wasn’t for that, if we would have just… y’know, done this sooner, we could have probably gotten some sleep. From now on, if you want something from me, or if I want something from you, we tell each other immediately, get an answer, positive or negative, and move on.” Oikawa stated.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea… But can I add a rule number ‘four point one’?”

“Go on?”

“No judging each other on uh… those requests.”

Oikawa turned to Haruko and looked her dead in the eye, “Do… Do I look like someone who’s capable of not being judgmental?”

“Dude! Come on!”

“Look, I can try, but that’s asking me not to be me!”

Haruko sighed, “You’re even more insufferable than usual when you haven’t had sleep, huh?”

“Hey, at least I’m not the one who was complaining _all morning_ about how sore she is…” Oikawa jabbed.

“That’s _your_ fault!”

“You asked for it! You _literally_ asked!”

Haruko was about to continue their bickering, but something else came to her mind. “Oh! Actually! That reminds me, I have a fifth rule: no more marks in places that are hard to cover up. You have no idea how much makeup I had to use to cover up the, now _two_ , bruises on my neck…”

“You’re wearing a scarf, what’s the problem?” Oikawa asked, throwing out his empty coffee cup in a bin they passed by.

“Not inside! And not in practice! Last thing I want is the guys teasing me about it again…”

“Again? Someone was teasing you for the last one?”

“Yeah, Maki saw it… And, like an idiot, I blurted out that it’s not from a boyfriend so he-“

“-went off about it, I know. He was going on about it in our changing room too… Didn’t expect him to have enough guts to actually approach _you_ about it…”

Oikawa seemed annoyed. Very annoyed.

“What’d he say? Something nasty as usual, I presume?” Haruko asked.

He sighed. “Ugh… Something about you being ‘free game’ or whatever… I went off at him after that one a little.”

He shook his head, and his vision caught onto Haruko, who was looking at him with the doofiest smile possible.

Did his heart just skip a beat?

“Wh-..what?” he raised his eyebrow.

She tsk’ed, “Awww you were defending me, weren’t’cha?”

“Well…-“ Oikawa was caught off guard a little, he looked away focusing on the path in front of him, “Yeah, of course I was. Not gonna have some jerkwad diss my friend without doing anything about it.”

He really, really didn’t like Maki. Noone did, but he was a good volleyball player, so they chose to put their differences aside. Most of the time, anyway.

Haruko chuckled, “I’ll make sure to reward you for it sometime.”

“I’ll hold you accountable for that.”

Before she could answer, she was distracted by a familiar figure standing by the main gate of the university grounds. “Oh hey, it’s Iwaizumi.”

He saw the two from afar and raised his hand a bit to give them a small wave. Haruko could have sworn that he had a very questioning expression on his face.

“Is he waiting for us?” she asked.

“Yeah, I told him that I’ll meet him at the-… OH.” Oikawa turned to her, “ Oh I forgot I’m with _you_!”

Haruko sighed, “You idiot…”

“Geh, I always let him know if we’re meeting up in the morning or not, force of habit… Shit…”

“Okay, calm down, he saw us coming over together already, just play along.”

Once they approached Iwaizumi, he gave them…

“Good morning?”

…a very questioning greeting.

“Heeey, guess who drugged your friend by accident last night.” Haruko started, smiling sheepishly.

“You did _what_?”

Haruko proceeded to talk to Iwaizumi on their way to class, telling him about how last night Oikawa came over to help with some homework, and how he accidentally ate some space cakes she left on the counter, thinking they were regular brownies. She was steering clear of anything that could have implied any intimate business going on, even mentioning that she left him to sleep on the couch because she was too worried to send him home in that state.

And hey, part of that was true! The brownie part anyway. Not the rest of it, though. But it was a believable story, and Iwaizumi finally put his questioning look away.

The group split up just before class, as Haruko had a different class from the boys, and said their see-you-laters until practice.

* * *

 

_“Oikawa…”_

_“Oikawa.”_

“Shittykawa!”

“WHAT what where- fuck!”

Oikawa shot up. He looked around. Lounge. Square sofa booth. Iwaizumi.

“What time is it..?” he asked, still trying to grasp reality.

“It’s 4:10pm, practice starts in twenty minutes, I was looking all over for you, usually you’d be the first one there… Are you okay? Did you not go home?” Iwaizumi questioned in his usual dad manner.

“Ah… No, I guess I didn’t…”

He put his arm behind his head, trying to put together what happened.

Ah.

Right.

They only had a morning class today, so afterwards, he and Iwaizumi split up to go home. Iwaizumi left quickly because he had some errands to take care of between class and practice, so he left Oikawa behind. Lazily, he was heading through the halls towards the door as well, but ended up chatting with Daiki, their teammate, in their usual sofa-meetup-spot before he left to his next class.

Once Daiki was gone, Oikawa checked a few things on his phone and was about to go, too, but… The sofa… Was so… Comfortable…

_I passed out…_

“Seriously, are you okay? You look like you didn’t get _any_ sleep, contrary to what Ikeda-san said…” Iwa raised his eyebrow.

“No, I’m fine, really… I think I kept waking up when I was at her place… I dunno…”

Oikawa had just woken up after a three hour long nap on a sofa in the middle of campus. He was _not_ ready to be interrogated like this.

He heard Iwaizumi sigh and eyed his friend. He had already changed into his sportswear. “Come on, go get changed, practice shouldn’t be too intense today.”

Oikawa nodded and got up, grabbing his phone. He didn't even have his bag with him or anything, since he stayed over at Haruko's. He and Iwaizumi split up again, since the latter headed straight to the gym.

There were a few other guys in the club room, some chatting and waiting for their friends to change and head out. Maki was one of those people, unfortunately.

“Wow, you look not ideal today.” he jabbed.

“Hello to you too, Maki.” Oikawa bit down whatever snarky retort he wanted to throw Maki’s way, he was not up for this today. Every goddamn moment they would be in the same room together, he made Oikawa want to punch him.

Oikawa said his hellos to the other guys and went over to his locker. Thankfully, he had an extra outfit in there – he made a mental note to bring another one tomorrow, seeing as he went home in his original one yesterday.

He changed into his shorts, then took off his shirt and started folding it up. Before he could put it away, to his annoyance, he had the _pleasure_ to hear Maki’s dumbass voice again.

“Oho, looks like someone had a rough night. No wonder you look like shit.”

Oikawa shot back at him with a deadly glare. Not today.

And wait, how did he..?

Oikawa narrowed his eyes.

“And what’s _that_ supposed to mean?” he snapped.

“Pff I dunno, did you fuck Edward Scissorhands last night or what?”

That didn’t answer anything. Oikawa followed his line of sight. Then he went to the nearby mirror and turned around, looking back at it.

“Ah.”

His back was all scratched up.

Oikawa chuckled and shook his head, a smug smile making its way on his face.

_If only you knew…_

“Well, Maki,” he went back to his locker and swiftly put on a new shirt, “what can I say, unlike _some people_ , I have the looks and personality that _at least_ Edward Scissorhands isn’t disgusted by.”

“Real original. Fuck you, Oikawa.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.” Oikawa snapped back and headed out the door, but not before flipping Maki off on his way out, a smug smile still on his lips.

He was sickeningly prideful of both the marks that he left on Haruko, and the marks that she left on him.

Oikawa didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep that was putting him in this state, or the power nap he just had, or maybe there was still some weed in his system after last night.

Whatever it was, he felt pretty good right about now.

* * *

 

 **AN:** short one but eh I felt like doing another one!

ONCE AGAIN MAKI AINT HANAMAKI. Hanamaki would be Makki. Maki =/= Makki. Maki with one K is a fuckboy and we don’t like him.

I’m probs gonna introduce Makki and Mattsun to this sometime btw? yea

Anyways love u pls validate me in the comments :’)


	23. Chapter 23 - BEACH SPECIAL

**98 percent**

**Chapter 23?**

**AN:** HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this absolute disaster that I’ve been writing! I cannot believe I managed to keep this up for a year, albeit with a couple of hiatuses. (hiatusi..?)

Whether you've been reading this fic from the beginning or started literally today - thank you so much for being here and I really hope you're enjoying it so far! ♥

Anyways, since this is a special occasion, there won’t be a regular chapter this time around. Instead… we have a _BEACH EPISODE SPECIAL._ Have fun! :D (And don’t worry about this tying into the usual story! **It doesn’t!** Just having a bit of fun with the characters. I mean hell, it should be the beginning of spring in fic-canon lmao.) (…nsfw treat at the end…) (eyes emoji)

* * *

 

So, how many university students conveniently have families rich enough to have an empty beach house in the middle of summer? In this story, there’s one, and he happens to be part of Shokey’s volleyball club.

“Daiki, you legend!”

“Shh! I can only fit like, 6-7 people there! Don’t spread this around!” he shushed Oikawa, who had his excitement volume a little too high.

Daiki, one of their regulars, caught Oikawa and Iwaizumi chatting with Haruko on the short break they were taking during one of their summer practice sessions, and he decided to tell them about their super exclusive invitation to his family’s beach house, which just so happens to be empty the whole upcoming weekend.

“Who else is going?” Haruko asked.

“There’s me, the three of you, Toyo, Hachi,-” whoever that was, “-and Maki.”

Both Haruko and Oikawa had to hold in their sour faces about Maki going. The thing was, Maki seemed to be very picky about whom he decides to treat like an asshole. And somehow, Daiki was off that list, so they managed to become really good friends over their time at university.

So, whatever.

“Toyo and me are gonna be driving, so I’ll set up a group chat and let you guys know the details and where we’re meeting up – gonna leave sometime Friday evening! Probably do some shopping for drinks and food and then hit the road, it’s about an hour drive from Miyagi.”

Their break soon ended, and the boys headed back to playing, leaving Oikawa and Haruko behind to exchange a few more words.

Once the others were far enough, she smirked at Oikawa, “Gonna be able to keep your hands off me, captain?”

He chuckled, “I don’t really have a choice, considering that we’ll be surrounded by a bunch of other people at all times…”

Trying not to exchange _too_ sly looks in public, they both headed back to their devices. It had been a few months now since their whole _arrangement_ started, and thankfully, no one became suspicious, besides a few close calls.

Haruko was scribbling something on her notes, though her mind was elsewhere. Oikawa was someone who would take any excuse to torment and tease her on a daily basis. With his ego, there wasn’t much she could jab him back for.

There was only one way she could drive him mad – he couldn’t stand not getting what he wants. Which meant that her a swimsuit combined with a bunch of _guard dogs_ is going to drive him up the wall.

And boy was she looking forward to that.

* * *

 

“Duuude, this looks sick!” one of the boys exclaimed, taking a box of wine out of the trunk of one of the cars.

“Riiiight? Just don’t make _too_ big of a mess.” Daiki said, taking a few bags of snacks with him into the house.

The rest of the group were taking bits and pieces from the cars, as well as their own bags with clothes and essentials, and into the house with them. It was a lovely place, a lodge of sorts. There were a few other houses around, though not in uncomfortably close proximity – they had plenty of space all for themselves. And you could even see the sea (haha) from there – the beach was less than a minute away by foot.

It was about 8pm on a Friday when they arrived, and while a night of fun was in front of them, they first had to sort out their sleeping arrangements. Daiki, with a bottle of cider already in his hand, showed everyone around. Some people claimed sofas, some claimed floor spaces for their sleeping bags…

“Aaand you…-“ Daiki started, leading Haruko to one of the upstairs rooms, “-…get the guest bedroom because I am not gonna have you sleep in the same room as a bunch of dudes.”

She snickered, “Appreciate it.”

She dumped her bag on the bed, and followed him back out and downstairs into the living room. The living room was spacious, with a corner sofa and an armchair surrounding a wide wooden coffee table, and for some extra seating, Daiki brought some bean bags from another room. There was a fireplace, though probably only used during the colder seasons. The seating area was nearby the glass doors that led outside, and a warm breeze was coming in.

Music was already playing, and the boys didn’t waste any time – some brought beer, some brought cider, several types of wine, too. Cheap, grocery store wine, but hey, it works. Those, and a bunch of snacks, were laid out on the table, as well as some cooler boxes on the ground.

Haruko claimed one of the bean bags and grabbed a glass as well as a bottle of wine for herself – yes, the whole bottle. There was no reason to be classy between these guys, and there was plenty to go around.

“For the _LAST TIME_ , a _hotdog_ is not a fucking _sandwich_!”

“BUT IT’S BETWEEN _BREAD._ ”

Oh my god, they were on the same topic again. Haruko eyed Oikawa who was sitting at the edge of the sofa next to her and snickering at his teammates going at it – he was clearly the one who started it again.

“Why do you keep doing this to them?” she sighed, smiling and sipping her glass of wine.

He glanced her way, “It’s fun to watch.”

It’s not like Haruko could disagree.

“So what if is? It’s hot! Sandwiches are not hot!”

“What? Yes they are!”

“No! A hot sandwich is a toastie!”

“…A TOASTIE _IS_ A SANDWICH.”

“No- that’s not-“

“So are you saying that a hotdog is a toastie then?”

“NO! A HOTDOG IS A _FUCKING HOTDOG_!”

 _I want a hotdog…_ Haruko thought to herself.

* * *

 

As the drinks were kicking in, and as that cursed ‘is a hotdog a sandwich’ conversation was finally over, the group moved on to different activities. And one of those was a true, hard classic, both in real life and in fanfiction.

“Okay, some house rules: no picking truth more than twice in a row and no sexual dares. You’re free to back out, BUT you have to take a shot every time you do.”

Ah, who could forget a good ol’ game of truth or dare.

“I feel like I’m a teenager again…” Haruko chuckled.

So no one gets left out or becomes biased, they each put their names in a random name generator on Haruko’s tablet and left it in the middle of the room.

The host himself was honored with the beginning of the game, so he tapped the ‘randomize’ button on the screen.

“Ha, Oiks! Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Coward.” Daiki teased, making Oikawa roll his eyes. “Okay uuuh, how many people have you slept with in your entire life?”

Straight into _that_ kind of a game, huh?

“Two.” he stated.

“Whaaaat, bullshit! With your face, two?”

Oikawa snorted, “I mean I appreciate that, but if you’re trying to increase that number, it’s not gonna work, you’re not really my type.”

After a few laughs the tablet was nudged towards the next person, without any further comments from Daiki.

Truth be told, that kind of peaked Haruko’s interest. One of those people was her, which means that the other one had to be his ex-girlfriend. You know, the bitchy one.

_God I hope I’ve been a better experience than her._

“Ikeda-chan! Truth or date?” Maki asked.

“Hm? Oh-“ she snapped out of her thoughts. “Tru-.. wait, did you just say date?”

He wiggled his eyebrows.

Haruko snorted and shook her head. He’s such a hopeless, no-filter moron 24/7 that it’s entertaining at this point. “Real smooth - definitely truth.”

“Boooo!.. Uuuh… Who’s the last person you slept with?”

Haruko had to stop her eyes from glancing over to Oikawa. She sighed and picked up one of the shot glasses from the table and downed it, making the entire room burst out with laughter.

“Wait, wait, wait, it’s gotta be someone we know then?!” Maki exclaimed.

“Perhaps. Your turn is over though.” She put the shot glass further from the others, marking the start of an empty glass pile.

A few rounds and embarrassing questions later, as well as a horrible ‘dive into the freezing sea water in the middle of the night’ dare that Iwaizumi refused to turn down because ‘he’s no coward’ (but will absolutely murder Oikawa for), the game continued. And it just so happened to be Haruko’s turn.

She tapped the screen.

“Ooh, Oikawa again! Truth or dare?” she smirked at him.

The game seemed to conveniently focus on the main characters. Hmm.

“Truth if you’re gonna give me that look.” he stated.

“Aww okay, that’s your second truth in a row though. Sooo… What was the last time you realized that you’re into something you didn’t know you’re into, and what was it?”

“Uuh a few months ago when-… Hmm.” Oikawa started, but soon discontinued his sentence. He probably shouldn’t be saying anything about her tongue ring in public. “Nope. Nevemind.”

He reached over to the table to take a shot and few teasing ‘cowaaaard’s were heard from the group. The game continued for a while, and so did the drinks, and Haruko became a little concerned about blurting out something she shouldn’t. To her un-delight, a few rounds later Maki landed her name again. And we all know that man has no breaks when it comes to dirty questions. Especially when she was the victim of those questions.

“Ikeda-chan! Truth or dare?”

“Truth.” Maybe sexual dares were out of the question, but the drunker they became, the more that rule went out the window.

“Alrighty.” he smirked. Oh boy. “How many sex toys do you own?”

She blushed, “I- shouldn’t you be asking _if_ I own any?”

“Pff, _no_ ? As if every girl doesn’t have them. The question is how many.”

At this point all eyes were on her. And at this point she wasn’t feeling like having _yet another_ shot.

She closed her eyes sighed.

“…Four.”

“FOUR?!”

While the boys were losing their shit, she eyed Oikawa who was giving her sly looks.

_Oh don’t get any ideas…_

* * *

 

“I’ll have to dig through your belongings when we come back to Miyagi.” Haruko heard Oikawa whisper behind her.

She was in the kitchen getting some ice – she was getting a little more than tipsy, so she was back to soft drinks for the rest of the evening – especially considering that they’ll have a whole day out on the beach tomorrow.

“Hmm? What are you talking about, why?” she asked.

They were the only two people in the kitchen at the time. The others were still in the living room – their game of truth or dare ended a while ago, and they were just chatting and laughing about random things, a mood shifting into a chill and sleepy one – it was late and some sleep would have been great right about now.

Oikawa leaned on the counter while she was putting ice in her drink. “Just curious on what those four toys of yours are.”

She rolled her eyes at his smirking face. “I regret answering that.”

He moved in front of her and put his arms on either side of her on the counter, trapping her and leaning in. “Don’t. Maybe I can find some new ways to play with you thanks to that.”

His husky voice and his breath so close to her lips was really hard to resist, but nope, no way, too risky.

“Woah, woah-“, Haruko took one of his arms and swiftly lifted it up, escaping underneath it, “Hold your horses, don’t forget we’re not alone, someone can walk in at any time and if they do, we’re _fucked_.”

Oikawa lifted his head and groaned quietly, “Uuugh I know…” he leaned back on the counter, “It’s hard to keep this off my mind, okay? Especially with all the dirty questions going on an hour ago, those were giving me ideas.”

Haruko snickered, making him glance at her. “What? It’s not exactly surprising-..”

“No, no, it’s not that, it’s just…” she picked up her drink and started heading back into the living room, “If you’re having a hard time _now_ … You’re _really_ gonna suffer tomorrow…”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” Oikawa squinted.

“You’ll see.”

* * *

 

“Where’s Ike-chan?” Oikawa wondered, not seeing his friend around.

“Huh? Oh, she’s getting ready; she said she’ll join us soon.” Daiki said.

The next morning the boys headed straight to the beach. Which didn’t exactly take long since it was literally right outside the lodge they were staying at. Still, they took some bags with them containing a few volleyballs, some towels, water, etc.

And thankfully, no one woke up with a hangover that wasn’t contained by some painkillers!

They put a big towel down under a really cheap, crappy beach umbrella, which served as shade for their drinks box full of ice. Their part of the beach also, luckily for them, had a volleyball net – and while beach volleyball was quite different from regular volleyball, it was still fun!

The boys soon got busy playing, as they always do, albeit with a bit more trips and falls than usual thanks to the sand, but that only added to the fun.

Oikawa couldn’t help but let his mind wander to what Haruko said last night. Why would he suffer more today? He had enough pent up sexual frustration as it is – not being able to have some private time with her without causing suspicion was already getting to him. Normally it wouldn’t because they would mostly see each other in class and practice – but now he was around her _all day_.

He didn’t have to wonder what she meant for long, though.

Oikawa noticed one of his teammates, Hachi, freeze up on the other side of the net and get completely distracted, before yelling out “Good morning Ikeda-san!” with an octave higher than his usual voice.

He followed Hachi’s line of sight, as well as a familiar “morning!” coming from his left.

Instant regret.

_Oh no…_

He had to keep his jaw from dropping. Oikawa’s seen her naked, but this? In public? This was too much for him to handle.

Haruko was wearing a black bikini with a few metal rings in just the right places, and it complimented her figure so well he thought his dick would explode. She had a sun hat and a matching beach scarf around her waist, both of which she was currently taking off.

“Mind if I join you?”

_You’ve got to be fucking kidding me._

There were a few very excited and eager “YEAH NO NOT AT ALL”s and “SURE COME ON OVER”s coming from the other guys while Oikawa was processing what he’s looking at, what he’s feeling, what she’s doing and what he wanted to do to her.

“I’d like to say thank you not only to God, but to Jesus…” a stupid quote came from Maki who was next to him, unfortunately on his part of the team for the game, and Oikawa realized another thing.

The list of things he was feeling right now was topped off by a good portion of jealousy. He glanced around. Even Iwa-chan was stirred up and fumbling over his words when she came over to say hello. The entire team was ogling her.

Then he looked at the woman in question. Haruko had a smile so sweet dancing on her face, so sickeningly sweet and… annoying? Oikawa caught her glance towards him for a moment and the look she had in her eyes…

_Oh. Oh you are so doing this on purpose._

Oikawa knew. Maybe jealousy wasn’t her intent, (though it sure was a byproduct) but riling him up sure was.

And he absolutely hated the fact that it was _working._

Both teams had an equal number of players, and both were eager to have her on their team. She picked the opposing team and went over to the side of the net where Iwaizumi, Hachi and Daiki were. And she made a point to stand right. In front. Of Oikawa.

She could have stood anywhere, maybe somewhere at the back, maybe on the opposite side, anywhere that wouldn’t give him a _full goddamn frontal view of her and her attire._

This was so frustrating.

Oikawa wanted to just pick her up, yell out “Okay guys! We’ve been fucking for several months now and that’s exactly what we’re gonna do now! See ya!”, carry her back to the house and deal with the consequences later… but he couldn’t He _couldn’t_. He absolutely hated this.

On the other side of the net, Haruko was actually finding it difficult to keep a straight face, too. Not because riling Oikawa up was fun – which it was, sure, but it wasn’t laughter she had to hold in.

Haruko had to keep herself from fumbling over her own words as well. Because while her swimwear was causing some internal chaos for a bunch of hormonal dudes, the opposite was also true.

She was surrounded by shirtless, ripped athletes after all. And especially Oikawa, who was also blessed with a pretty face.

Haruko did not think this through.

* * *

 

Their game of beach volleyball was a very casual one, focusing more on fun than rules or actual winning. It kind of reminded Haruko of Terushima and his old team even.

The boys were eager to give her tips, and even lightened their hits and play style after she joined, which, of course, she promptly noticed and made sure to break their whole ‘girl fragile must be gentle’ idea by _accidentally_ launching a ball into Maki’s face full force.

“Sorry, my bad!” she yelled out.

“Oww... Damn, woman, you pack a punch…” came from the other side of the net, from Maki who was rubbing his nose.

Oikawa had to hold himself from snorting. She clearly did that on purpose, too. And he had to admit that was yet another thing that was turning him on. She was just as petty as he was…

This weekend is fun and all but he couldn’t wait to go back to Miyagi and get his hands all over her. Was there seriously _no way_ they could disappear for at least a _little bit_ without anyone noticing? Goddamn guard dogs.

Oikawa was soon rewarded for his zoning out with a ball landing on his head.

“Focus, captain. Next one won’t be so gentle.” Haruko said, giving him a smug look from the other side of the net.

Oikawa made a mental note to say those exact same words to her when an opportunity presents itself.

* * *

 

The day went on, and once the game ended, the group split up a little – a couple of guys went to get more drinks (and some ice-cream!) from a nearby grocery store, the rest went swimming and Haruko decided to be lazy and lay in the sun for a while – maybe even get a slight tan. She laid down on one of the towels and opted for reading a book, leaving the boys to do their own thing – the sea water was way too cold for her to enjoy.

“Oikawa. Dude. Ask Haruko to join us.” Hachi said, floating around in a very silly looking flamingo shaped inflatable ring.

“What? No, she’s too far away, I’m lazy... and also why me?” he asked, trying his best to wrestle Iwaizumi who was determined to drown Oikawa for last night's shenanigans.

“You’re good friends with her and uh, the rest of us are too intimidated.”

“I already asked,” Iwaizumi interrupted, still trying to somehow shove Oikawa underwater, “She said the water’s too cold for her, let her chill-”

“ _Did_ she now?”

Oikawa immediately reacted, letting go of Iwaizumi who proceeded to slip and splash into the water himself, cursing.

He looked up to his friend who was already turning around and he had the most evil expression possible.

“Shittykawa DON’T DO IT.”

“What’s he gonna- ooooh no… She’s gonna kill him…”

Oikawa marched right out of the water and started heading towards Haruko, who was peacefully reading her book.

“Heeeeey.” Haruko heard a familiar sing-song voice and looked behind her shoulder to see Oikawa approaching her. “How’s it going?”

He squatted down next to her, smiling at her innocently.

“Ah… It was going fine until you came here and started dripping cold water on me…”

Though she had to admit, wet and shirtless Oikawa? 10/10. She found it difficult to pry her eyes off him and go back to her book.

“Cold water you say?” he raised his eyebrows.

She looked back at him again. “Yeah..? The-… Oh no.”

She saw his face and her fight or flight response triggered immediately. Haruko tried her best to get up and scurry away from him, but…

“No, no, NO NONONONO- LET ME DOWN-“

…soon she was thrown over Oikawa’s shoulder as he was carrying her towards the sea.

“OIKAWA I SWEAR TO GOD-“

He was completely ignoring her and cackling like an idiot.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE-“

When he entered the water, Haruko went into panic mode from trying to escape to holding onto him for dear life.

“ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME-“

“No I am not!”

“DUDE-“

He carried her over to the rest of the group, “Look who decided to join!”

“I DIDN’T- OIKAWA COME ON!”

“We tried to stop him, you’re at his mercy now.” Hachi said, chuckling.

Iwaizumi was nearby too, hitting an inflatable ball back and forth with Daiki.

“IWA HELP A GIRL OUT WILL YOU?!”

“If I come near Shittykawa he’s just gonna drop you… You’re best off negotiating with him at this point.”

“Oooh good idea Iwa-chan!” he shifted a little and bent down, holding her just by her waist and making her yelp and cling to him even more – at this point her back was hovering juuuust above the water while she had her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. “What’s it gonna be, Ike-chan?”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

The guys were watching the whole ordeal, and my _god_ were they jealous. Whether Oikawa was smooth or just an _asshole_ , it got Haruko to cling to him while _in a swimsuit_ , inches away from his face.

Most of them didn’t have the confidence to approach a girl head on, let alone _like that._

Though whatever he was about to do would probably put him on the “Top 5 people Haruko wants to push down a cliff” list anyway, so it’s not like he’s a threat, right?

Right?

“You’re not making a very compelling argument, you know.”

The smug look he had on his face was _so. annoying._

“What do you want?!”

“Well, what do you have to offer?”

_Nothing that I can say out loud, you idiot!_

“I can’t hear you…” Oikawa lowered her a little making her back touch the water, to which she yelped again and arched her back, pushing herself even closer to him.

Not only was this 120% fun, it was also giving him an ‘innocent’ excuse to have her so close… Even though that was just making his sexual frustrations pile up more.

“Alright, alright, I dunno uh… I’ll buy you coffee every morning when we’re back at uni..?”

“Nah… Gonna have to try harder than that…”

“Oikawa, come on! Please don’t drop me…”

He chuckled, “Aw you’re actually resorting to begging… The water isn’t _that_ cold…”

“It is to me! I’ve been under the sun the whole time, you asshole!”

He raised his eyebrows. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”

“I- no! No no no no I’m sorry I’M SORRY I’M SO-AHHHH-“

Too late.

He tipped forward and dunked both her and himself underwater, quickly muting the scream Haruko started the moment her body came in contact with the water. It resulted in a huge splash, and as soon as he was under the water with her, he went in to kiss her, praying that the splash made enough ripples in the water to mask his actions. He let her go and came back out on the surface, which Haruko did a moment after as well. And after a few coughs…

“FUCK! YOU HORRIBLE FUCKING-”

That was just the beginning of the curses she was spewing at Oikawa while also trying to smack him with all her might… which isn’t a lot of might so he just held her wrists and laughed while she was cursing at him.

He was _insufferable_.

* * *

 

“Where’s Ikeda-chan and Oiks?”

“Oh I think he’s either apologizing to her or helping her dry off back at the lodge.”

“Eh? What?”

“Yeah he threw her into the water a few minutes ago. As in, involuntarily.”

“...Oh.”

* * *

 

But even though he was insufferable, Haruko still found it difficult to say no to him.

“Wasn’t there a better way of getting us alone?”

“Maybe for you, that was a great way from _my_ perspective.” Oikawa smiled into her lips, continuing to kiss her.

“You’re such an asshole…”

Oikawa was sitting on the edge of the bed – the one in the now _locked_ guest bedroom – while Haruko was straddling his lap. His lips moved down to her neck while his hands went up to her bikini top – with one swift motion he untied it and it was soon carelessly thrown on the floor.

“You’re the one to talk…” he murmured into her neck, “I can guarantee you own a less revealing swimsuit, and if you didn’t plan to use it for actual swimming, your only intent was to show off… And rile me up…”

Haruko shifted her hips a little to press herself down on his lap and she could feel how hard he was getting. “Maybe it was… And it looks like it worked, too…”

Both of them were still wet, completely ignoring the original intentions to dry off. They didn’t know how long they had until someone comes looking for them – hopefully they’re all too preoccupied.

He was impatient, hungry to touch every inch of her skin, something he’s been deprived of all day. One of his hands went down between her thighs, and he pushed her bikini bottom to the side, running a finger between her folds. “As if you weren’t giving me the same looks I was giving you the entire time.”

Haruko let out a tiny, muted moan, blushing because of how wet she already was – and it wasn’t because of Oikawa dunking her in the water - it was because of Oikawa _in general._

Haruko felt his teeth on her neck – he’s been a fan of leaving marks on her ever since they started sleeping together. She quickly pulled away, giving him a stern look.

“No marks. If the guys see new ones appear on me while I’m here, it won’t take them long to figure out what’s going on.”

“Ugh…”

This was so frustrating. So incredibly frustrating. Sure, they were still _just friends_ , but boy did he love leaving marks on her and claiming her as his own.

She could feel that, too. Oikawa still kept nibbling on her neck while his hand was busy between her thighs, he was groaning and stopping himself from biting too hard, getting annoyed. He couldn’t stand restraints like this being put on him, and she was sure that he would let his frustrations out in some other way.

Not that Haruko complained.

Oikawa pulled her down on the bed and on top of him, making her yelp in surprise. She ended up hovering just above him, supporting herself on her elbows. He used his leg to quickly pull himself a little further down and gave her nipple a teasing lick before sucking on it, while playing with the other one with his free hand. Haruko tried her best to mute her moans just in case someone is actually walking by, and that added to Oikawa’s frustrations even more because he loved listening to them.

He slipped his thumb through one of the metal rings on the sides of her bikini bottom and pulled them down, slowly and teasingly – just like everything he does until he loses his patience. Oikawa's finger was soon back where it was, playing with her clit. His hands were all over her, and when he slipped his finger inside her, it started becoming increasingly difficult to keep her moans on low volume.

Oikawa slid back up to kiss her, enjoying her moan to his mouth. His finger was going back and forth between playing with her clit and fingering her, and with more and more time passing the chances of someone looking for them and knocking on the door were going up.

And for some reason, that was a turn on.

The kisses kept getting rougher, and she could feel Oikawa slowly losing it.

“I want them to know…” he said in between, “It’s infuriating that they don’t know and that I can’t tell them…”

He wrapped his arms around her and flipped her under him in one rough motion, hovering above her. Oikawa used one hand to support himself while kissing her neck again, and went back between her folds with the other one.

“I hate that they don’t know those marks are being left by _me_. I hate that they don’t know that _I_ have the privilege of seeing you like this. I hate that they don’t know that-…” he slid a second finger in her in between his words, earning a satisfied groan from her, “- … _I_ get to listen to _that_ … It’s fucking infuriating.”

“Mmh… You know it’s for-.. the best…” Haruko tried her best not to fumble over her words.

“I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t be pissed off about it.”

She chuckled, bringing her hands up and lifted his head to make his eyes meet her own. Oikawa stopped in his tracks when he saw her smirking at him. “You’re free to take your frustrations out on me, you know.”

“...You’re gonna-“

Haruko put a finger on his lips to shut him up. “How many times to I have to tell you that I _want_ you to make me regret saying that? It’s been months. Get it through your stupid head already.”

Ah, there’s the bitchy Haruko, the one that shows up whenever she wants him to fuck the living daylights out of her.

Without a single word, Oikawa grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head with one hand, gripping her hip with the other one for stability.

His grip was as strong as ever - Haruko was glad it never takes long to rile him up to be rougher.

A moment after she could feel his dick sliding down her folds – when did he even manage take his shorts off? – and she had to bite her bottom lip when he rammed it in her. Haruko groaned and mouthed a breathless ‘fuck’ – it was so, _so_ difficult to hold her voice in when his dick was inside her.

Her body didn’t exactly need much adjusting at this point – Oikawa wasn’t the only one looking forward to this for hours now. He started thrusting into her at a merciless pace right off the bat – for one thing she didn’t complain, quite the opposite really, for another they probably didn’t have long until they had to wrap things up.

His thumb went in between her thighs to play with her clit again and the pleasure was overwhelming. Both his dick and his hands felt so good, not to mention the look he was giving her while fucking her with such force – hungry, frustrated and possessive.

Oikawa kept going in deep, hitting her in all the right places, and that paired with his thumb was sure to make her cum quickly.

But unfortunately, Oikawa had to freeze when a knock came from the other side of the door.

“Ikeda-san?”

Daiki's voice came from the other side of the door. Oh boy.

Neither of them moved a muscle. Haruko took a deep breath and tried to make her voice as normal as possible. “Yeah?”

“You good? It’s been a while, you guys kinda disappeared.”

“Yeah, I’m just changing. I had to take a shower cause there was like… sand everywhere.” she yelled out.

“Oh okay, sorry! Where’d Oiks go?” Daiki asked.

“Uuh, bathroom, I think?”

“Eh? I just passed it, he ain’t there.”

Haruko panicked. She looked at Oikawa who shrugged, (his dick still inside her, mind you) just as lost about what to say.

“Oh uuh. I dunno then, maybe he went to… buy me an apology treat or some-GH-thing.”

She got staggered and glared at Oikawa. He was smirking down at her - the bastard started moving again mid-conversation.

“Haha yeah, probably. I’ll see you in a bit then, we’re gonna be outside.”

“Okaaay!”

The two horny idiots listened to him go down the stairs, and as soon as it was relatively safe to do so, Oikawa started moving faster again without much of a warning, making Haruko grunt and go back to suppressing her moans as best as she could, _just in case_ someone else was still around.

“Hah..." she breathed, "Don't ever do that again, you idiot… And wrap it up, we gotta-ah.. get outta here.” Haruko whispered.

“Aww, you already wanna get rid of me?” he teased.

"Oikawa."

He sighed. "Fine, fine."

He started thrusting even faster, his thumb still playing with her clit. Heavy breaths and muted moans filled the room - Oikawa really knew all the right places to hit and touch to make her squirm under his grip - and soon enough the pleasure became too much to handle, sending her over the edge.

Haruko could suppress her moans for only so long.

“FUCK- Toor-RMNHH?!-“

Yeah, he figured that’s gonna happen. As much as Oikawa liked listening to her moan his name, this was _not_ the place to do that.

As soon as she came, his hand flew up right to her mouth to shut her the hell up while he continued fucking her through the orgasm.

And fuck was the pleasure overwhelming.

Haruko felt his hand twitch on her mouth when he finally let himself go too, spilling inside her.

Breathing heavily, Oikawa loosened his grip on her and used his arms to support himself, still hovering above her.

Haruko boosted herself up on her forearms and gave him a kiss.

“Mmh… You know I’d love to just stay here for a bit, but...” she chuckled, “…we really gotta clean up and go. Like, now.”

Oikawa let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah. I know.”

This whole weekend beach house thing was fun and all… but he couldn’t wait to go back to Miyagi and fuck his girlf- his _friend, his friend with benefits,_ properly.

* * *

 

 **AN:** **_AGAIN, please don’t treat this as this fic’s canon,_** pretend it was a dream or something, I just really wanted to do a beach episode thing but I don’t think I’ll manage to fit that into the plot with what I’ve planned so far :’D so I wanted to use this special occasion as an excuse! Haha I hope you enjoyed - I am here to entertain :D

Sorry if the end seems a little rushed btw! I really wanted to finish this for today and started running out of time :c

ALSO I’m a self-employed irresponsible bitch, and I was writing this when I was supposed to be _working_ kshfdksfdasaddf… and I just paid rent and I’m BROKE af so if any of you have…

…any tip y’all wanna throw for this trainwreck I’m writing then uh… drop it here: paypal.me/frozencrafts –EYES EMOJI- LMAO

LOVE YOU regular updates will resume now haha


	24. Chapter 24

**98 percent**

**Chapter 24**

“Yooo Ikeda-chan, don’t forget to take the Friday evening off!”

“Oh yeah…” Haruko spoke up, looking at Maki who gave her the reminder.

Oikawa’s ears picked up on the conversation while they were cleaning them gym up after practice.

“Don’t tell me you already forgot.” her teammate said.

Right, she promised him to join their Friday night fun times at Oikawa’s. So much happened since yesterday that she, indeed, completely forgot about that.

Well, a promise is a promise.

“I will, I will, don’t worry. I’ll call my manager on the way home today.”

“You better! I won’t leave you alone about it until you do!” he then left her behind to continue cleaning up.

Truth be told, she would have preferred if someone else would have convinced her to go instead. She would never say much about Maki’s usual shitty behavior – mostly because it was never _directly_ aimed at her. But Haruko wasn’t stupid – she was perfectly aware of the things he was saying behind her back. So, ideally, he wouldn’t be there. But being a regular on the team, as well as _somehow_ part of their friend group… Well, let’s just say he was usually around.

_And when did he pick up the whole Ikeda-chan deal…? I’m pretty sure I’m older than him, too…_

“Did my eavesdropping skills deceive me, or are you actually gonna join us this Friday?”

She turned to Oikawa who was shoving the volleyball net back into a box behind her.

“Ah, no, you heard right. I figured it’s been too long, I never get to hang out with you guys on your whole party night thing, it’s been months now. So I’ll take the evening off work, I’m sure Kami-chan won’t mind if I let her know early enough.” Haruko said, yawning. She couldn’t wait to go home and finally get some sleep.

“Yeah, she seems super chill. Speaking of… I never ended up asking Iwa-chan what happened with her after we left…” he squinted.

“I’d… suggest not bugging him about it? Best he forgets about that altogether so he doesn’t start putting pieces together about… y’know. Other things.”

“Ah… Yeah.” he picked the box up and started carrying it towards the storage room. “Remind me later to text you my address – if you do end up getting the time off, you might want to know where to go.”

“Will do.” she smiled.

* * *

 

“Weeeell I can’t give you the whole night off because we have quiz night on Friday,” ah crap, Haruko forgot about that, too, “so it’s gonna be busy, buuut I can see if one of the other girls is okay with swapping with you and staying late to help with closing up? Actually, I have a new guy starting next week, and he put his availability down for Friday too, so you guys could alternate every week, if you wanna start doing a different day?”

“Oh! Yeah, that’d be great, thank you!”

“No worries!” Kamiya said at the other end of the line, “You’ve been a big help every Friday for months now, it’s the least I can do! But yeah, for this week, I’ll still need you for the evening, but you’re free to go after we wrap up the quiz.”

“Alrighty, thanks again, Kami-chan!”

“See ya on Friday!”

Haruko dropped the call and continued on her way home, to her sweet, sweet bed. She put her phone away in her pocket, but soon had to take it out again – there was a message from Oikawa. Well, several, because he doesn’t know how to _not_ double-text.

* * *

 

Oikawa: Ya-hoo~

Oikawa: XX Newhall Street, 010-1010

Oikawa: That’s me! Feel free to drop by anytime

Oikawa: Like later today~

Ikeda: No way dude

Oikawa: Aw what

Oikawa: Don’t tell me I completely misinterpreted our whole fwb deal

Ikeda: You didn’t lmao but I’m not a bitch-on-demand, I’m tired

Ikeda: How do you even have the energy?? Tbh all I want now is just… sleep. Lots of it.

Oikawa: Actually I took a nap before practice haha

Oikawa: I kinda passed out on the sofa at uni…

* * *

 

Haruko snorted. How did he even manage?

She continued chatting away with him while going home. This was nice, being back to how things used to be between them, and with added benefits, too! She missed talking to him like a normal person.

As much as she also wanted to enjoy said benefits, sleep was much, much more inviting at the moment. So that would have to wait.

* * *

 

Ikeda: Oh yeah, Kami said I can have the evening off

Ikeda: Well, not the entire evening, but I should be able to finish up at like, 9-10 maybe?

Oikawa: Nice

Oikawa: We usually don’t get together till about 7ish anyway so

Oikawa: Bring drinks!!

Ikeda: Aw where’d you charm go now?? You won’t treat a girl to a drink? :(

Oikawa: There’s enough room for just one freeloader in this house

Oikawa: And that’s me

Ikeda: Booooo

Oikawa: IT’S MY APARTMENT

Ikeda: BOOOOO

* * *

 

When Haruko got home, she immediately noticed just how much of a mess it is. A _lot_ happened in the past few days, with, y’know, her entire life doing a 180.

A half empty bottle of vodka was on the floor by the entrance – she doesn’t even remember bringing it back. And my god, half? How did she not throw up? How did her body handle that better than any other night?

An absolute mess in the bathroom – which she decided to clean up at least a _little_ by putting everything back on the counter, after it got knocked down thanks to… stuff.

Empty takeaway boxes upstairs by the bed, which she also threw out. Haruko was way too tired to clean up properly, but some things she couldn’t just… leave there.

After that, she changed and dropped straight to bed. It was just around 7pm and it never felt so good to go to sleep early.

* * *

 

Oikawa almost felt lonely. He hasn’t slept in his own bed for two days now, it was kind of weird even. After messing around on his phone for a little he decided to go to sleep too – that three hour long nap helped during practice but that was about it.

With everything that happened, he was exhausted. But he was happy, too, and couldn’t wipe off a dumb smile off his face. Oikawa now officially had a friend with benefits. He really was living some college dream, wasn’t he?

It wasn’t all flowers and cotton candy, though – the inter-uni tournament was coming up. Which means that for the next few weeks their practice sessions would be turned up to eleven – they talked about crunch time earlier today.

There was a lot they had to work on, on top of keeping up with studies. But Oikawa was the only one with a privilege to have that kind of stress relief.

This was gonna be an interesting year. Or several years, actually? What happens after they’re done with university, anyway?

That Oikawa didn’t bother thinking about. Lately, he’s been doing all of his living in the present, rather than the past or distant future. And it felt good.

Face down on the pillow, he began drifting to sleep. Just before he disconnected entirely, his phone buzzed.

_Ugh, I forgot to put Don’t Disturb on…_

Oikawa picked it up off his nightstand, squinting at it, wondering who could be bugging him at the horrendous hour of… 9pm. So it could have been pretty much anyone, really.

* * *

 

Unknown number: Hey, Tooru. Are you still using this number?

* * *

 

Oikawa raised his eyebrow. Did his mom change her number or something? Or his sister?

* * *

 

Oikawa: Yeah, who’s this?

Unknown number: It’s Mao. How are you?~

* * *

 

“What the fuck.”

He said that out loud, mainly to himself.

Mao? _That_ Mao? The bitchy ex-girlfriend who lied and cheated on him in high school, and completely wrecked him? _That_ fucking Mao?

He completely ignored her question.

* * *

 

Oikawa: What do you want?

Unknown number: Hey now, I just wanna talk, don’t be mean, Tooru.

Oikawa: What

Oikawa: Do

Oikawa: You

Oikawa: Want

Unknown number: Jeez, still a fan of double texting, aren’t you? I told you, I just wanna talk.

Oikawa: There’s nothing to talk about

Unknown number: Yes, there is. I wanted to apologize, okay? Hear me out, will you?

* * *

 

Oh, now Oikawa was _livid_. He sat up, it was time to use both hands for texting.

* * *

 

Oikawa: Apologize?

Oikawa: You want to fucking APOLOGIZE?

Oikawa: Try apologizing to a broken plate, see if it fucking fixes itself

Oikawa: And WHAT are you even planning to say? Sorry I fucked some other guy while I was with you, OOPS! I don’t know how that could have possibly happened!

Oikawa: Are you for REAL, Mao??

Unknown number: He blackmailed me, Tooru.

Oikawa: Right sure and you expect me to just believe that?

Oikawa: How come you didn’t say anything before?

Oikawa: How come everyone knew about it except me?

Unknown number: This is why I want to talk to you. I can explain everything if you just let me.

Unknown number: I didn’t mean to hurt you. Can we please just meet up and talk?

Oikawa: NO?

Unknown number: Tooru, please. I miss you, and I just wanna talk. I’m not asking you to take me back, I just wanna make things right and… see how things go from there.

Oikawa: You’re delusional

Unknown number: 10 minutes. That’s all I ask. You go to Shokey, right? I can meet up with you tomorrow when you free up.

Oikawa: You sure know a lot for someone who, thankfully, deleted herself from my life

Oikawa: Should have stayed that way really

Unknown number: I’m not asking you to believe me until I explain. If you just let me.

Oikawa: Then explain away

Unknown number: Not like this. I want to see you and talk to you. 10 minutes. Please?

* * *

 

He couldn’t help himself.

If there was one thing Oikawa _hated_ right now, it was his stupid, moronic desire for answers. Answers from someone he didn’t even know _how_ to trust.

He couldn’t help is curiosity. Or was it the need for closure? The need to figure out why things went the way they did?

Was it the tiny chance that she was saying the truth and it wasn’t actually him she didn’t find good en-

 _He didn’t know what it was_ , and he tried not to expect much from the conversation, but…

* * *

 

Oikawa: Fine

* * *

 

“You’ve been super quiet all day. What’s up?”

Oikawa still didn’t know why he agreed to meeting up with his ex. It was a stupid and risky decision, really. Can he even trust himself to not say anything stupid, to not _feel_ anything stupid?

“Hey?”

There was a tiny, miniscule chance that Mao wasn’t lying. But how was he supposed to believe that? After everything she did… Unless she was putting up a really good act, there was no way she was being blackmailed. After they broke up, she was as harsh as ever, almost as if she was proud of breaking him.

“Earth to Oikawa?”

Even if she was telling the truth, even if she had proof, what was he even going to do afterwards? Did he even want her to be telling the truth? If she would have never showed up in his life again, he would have just forgotten all about this, no matter what had _actually_ happened back then, but now…

_Why the FUCK did I agree to this…_

“CAPTAIN-CHAN?”

“…Hm-what?” Oikawa finally snapped out of it.

“Dude, you do _not_ look okay.”

He looked at Haruko who was sitting next to him at their usual sofa booth. After practice ended, he stayed behind with Haruko and one of her friends from a different class while they were busy coordinating something for a group project. She seemed to have left now. He had some time to kill until…

“I’m meeting up with my ex in like 5 minutes.”

He wanted to smack himself for the stupid decision he made. It sounded like an even worse idea when he said out loud.

“Oh. Woah.”

“Yeah.”

“Are… you gonna be okay?” she asked.

He gave her a panicked look, “Do I look okay to you?”

“Right. Dumb question, sorry.” Haruko paused, “How’d… that happen, anyway?”

Oikawa rested his head on the back of the sofa. “She texted me last night. I told her to fuck off but… she… You know the whole thing with how she cheated on me?”

“Yeah..?”

“She’s saying she was blackmailed.”

“…Sounds like bullshit.”

“I know.” Oikawa sighed, “I have no idea why I’m doing this or what to expect from it.”

Every time there was talk about his ex, something between the words of “lying” and “bullshit” was always involved.

“I’m… honestly? I’m surprised you agreed to it.” Haruko said.

“So am I… I don’t know what to do if she’s telling the truth. Or how to even- How can I even tell? How can I believe anything she says? And then, if she’s not lying, and I don’t believe her, I’m the asshole! Fuck!”

He was getting frustrated. This was a really, really bad idea.

“I mean… I don’t think there’s anything else you can do at this point except just… go through with it. I’d offer some company but I think that’d be weird.”

“No, yeah, definitely…” he got up and started heading towards the exit, “You can wait for me though, if you want, she said she was meeting me at the gates. There’s a bench somewhere around, I think.”

Haruko chuckled, “You wanna go for a quick drink after this?”

“Please.”

* * *

 

Haruko indeed found a bench not too far from the gates. Thankfully the weather was getting warmer bit by bit, but it was still quite cold, so she hoped Oikawa won’t take too long. She could actually see him standing around, waiting for Mao. If he was trying not to look nervous, it was _not_ working.

Haruko felt a little rude eyeing him every so often, but she couldn’t help herself. She really wanted to know what Mao looked like.

Was it weird to be waiting for a person you’re sleeping with to be done talking to his ex-girlfriend?

Hmm. A little.

For another minute or so, Haruko wasted a bit of time on her phone, scrolling on Twitter. Until finally, she heard voices from Oikawa’s direction.

She looked up.

And nearly had a heart attack.

_NO WAY. NO FUCKING WAY._

She knew her. She knew Mao.

Haruko knew at least two girls named Mao from some parties she went to back in high school, but she didn’t know that one of them was THAT Mao.

Haruko couldn’t hear anything she or Oikawa was saying, and thankfully, Mao didn’t notice her there yet either, because…

_Oh. Oh no. Oh my fucking god. Please tell me that wasn’t at the same time as… Oh my god._

The photos. The photos she noticed Oikawa deleted from his Instagram. He mentioned they dated for around a half a year, and that’s exactly how big of a time frame is missing from his Instagram feed. She quickly opened the app to check the dates.

March last year, as well as some months around it, had missing photos.

If he deleted them because they were with Mao…

Haruko looked up again. They were still talking and _ohhh no don’t you DARE soften your expression she’s-_

She didn’t even think things through, she found Oikawa in her contacts and called him immediately.

Needless to say, he looked very confused when his phone started buzzing mid-conversation. Haruko watched him take out his phone and… drop the call.

_PICK UP YOU MORON._

She called him again and watched him most likely apologize to Mao, and pick up this time.

“Hey, I’m kind of… in the middle of something here-”

“Quick question,” Haruko interrupted, “were you dating Mao during March last year?”

“Wh-… Uhm… Yes? Why?”

Haruko sighed. Oh boy.

“And… is she still keeping up with her blackmail story?”

“…Y-yeah? Can’t this wait, I mean, we can… _talk_ about this later.” he said, trying not to make it sound like they’re talking about his ex, _in front of_ his ex. That was also probably why he didn’t look back at Haruko even though he knew exactly where she was sitting.

She had to keep her face from going all cringe-y. “I don’t think it can… She’s definitely, 100% not going back on her whole blackmail lie?”

“L- uh. No, to be fair, it’s, uh… It sounds believable…” he eyed Mao, who was raising his eyebrow at him and, oh god, she can probably tell, and Oikawa was panicking, “Seriously, can this wait-“

“No. It can’t.”

This… was going to be painful and probably the most awkward thing Haruko has done in a while.

But she was not gonna have her friend manipulated like this. Come to think of it, he seemed to be diving into Mao’s bullshit full speed…

Haruko sighed. Of course. She should have known.

“Oikawa, look… You’re not gonna feel better about yourself if you _force_ yourself to believe what she says.”

He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He got staggered.

That was it, wasn’t it?

“You’re not- You don’t even know what-“

“Yes, I do.”

Haruko started getting up, and as much as she didn’t want to, started heading towards the two of them.

“I don’t… like you knowing about the stupid shit I’ve done in the past, Oikawa…” she started, and Oikawa started picking her voice up from outside the speaker – she was coming over?!

“But drastic times call for drastic measures, I guess…”

She was close enough for Mao to notice her approaching, and for Oikawa to ask her “Ike-chan, what the _fuck_ has gotten into you?”

Haruko could only give him a pained look until she turned to Mao, who, and Oikawa noticed this too now, was giving Haruko a very uneasy look.

“Hey Mao,” she started, getting uncomfortably close to the other girl, “Mind explaining to me how getting yourself into a threesome with me and another guy, while dating _him_ ,” she pointed at Oikawa, “and fuck knows how many other people, is not considered _cheating_? And mind explaining to me how any of us blackmailed you?”

Why was Miyagi so fucking _small_ ?

* * *

 

“What.” Oikawa muttered, though surprisingly, he was kind of being ignored right now.

“I'm sorry I don’t- Who even _are_ you? I’ve never seen you in my life?” Mao was struggling putting even a basic excuse together.

Haruko rolled her eyes. Really?

She looked at Oikawa, who, frankly, was a little too shaken up to know what to believe. His face had a hint of "what is happening" and he was stuck in an infinite loop of glancing between Haruko and his ex.

It felt weird butting in like this, but this _bitch_...

Haruko crossed her arms in front of her. She was going to have none of this.

“You have a birth mark vaguely shaped like a heart on your right butt cheek. Pretty much the only thing I can remember from that otherwise very forgettable night.”

She glanced at Oikawa again and noticed that his face turned fucking livid. _Now_ he knew who to believe. It was unclear whether that was a good thing or not.

_Sorry, Oikawa…_

“Um, okay, this is none of your business! This didn’t- I wasn’t with you when-“

“March, last year. Yeah, you were. You gonna keep digging yourself any deeper, or..?” Haruko asked, shaking her head. This girl was unbelievable. A chronic liar.

“What the fuck?!" she screeched, "What kind of right do you even have- Like, this is none of your business! You’re just some slut who-“

“I may have been a slut,” Haruko interrupted, “but that didn’t make me a cheating, lying, horrible person. Everyone I got with perfectly _knew_ that I was a slut, Mao. Including you. On the contrary, I remember you telling me that you were single back then. So please, enlighten me just how exactly me, or whatever that other dude’s name was, were blackmailing you? You know, the bullshit story you’ve been feeding Oikawa? I’d be thrilled to hear it, too.” she stated.

Mao was cornered. She was staring at Haruko with her mouth slightly agape, running out of options what to say.

“Fuck you.”

Oh wow. Original.

Haruko smirked, putting her hands in her pockets and leaning towards Mao a little.

“Already did.”

Mao was furious, having _some bitch_ ruin her _perfect_ excuse. Haruko, while kind of expecting this outcome, didn’t manage to react to her lifting her hand, and by the time it was flying at her face, she was too late.

Nothing hit, though. No contact whatsoever. Haruko closed her eyes, an automatic reaction to someone’s hand flying at her, but quickly opened them again when she realized there was no impact.

She was met with a terrified Mao, and a _terrifying_ Oikawa holding Mao’s wrist in the air.

“If you lay a single finger on her, I will fucking end you.”

She struggled to free her hand, and Oikawa only tightened it as a threat. “And if I ever see you again, you better make sure you stay the fuck away both from me _and_ her. Got it?”

Mao was finally able to free her hand, and took a few steps backwards.

“You’re fucking mental! Both of you!” Mao yelled, squeezing her wrist with her other hand, “I knew that you weren’t worth this much effort!” she turned around, walking away, an array of curse words heard in the distance.

Once she was far enough to stop bothering them entirely, Haruko spoke up.

“Wow she’s… she’s really nuts, isn’t she?”

No answer. She noticed Oikawa shuffle a little and put his hands in his pockets, eyes still focused on where his ex left.

“Shit, sorry…” she murmured, “I shouldn’t have- It just kind of… happened… I knew she was lying and I just- You looked like you were gonna- I couldn’t just-“

“Haruko, stop.”

She felt chills go down her spine. Has he… ever called her by her first name before?

“The last thing you should be doing is apologizing…” he sighed and closed his eyes, “I almost… I almost believed her. You were right. I wanted to believe her, no matter how blatantly she was lying... I was gonna force myself to believe her.”

He was beating himself up about it. Badly. Maybe he didn't say much more, but it was clear that he was not okay with himself after all of... _that_.

Haruko knew he felt terrible – she’s been there. She’s done enough mental gymnastics on herself before too, convincing herself about bullshit that was obviously… bullshit.

And she knew _why_ he was doing that too, but from experience, no advice was going to help at this point. Instead…

“These things take time, Oikawa. If you’re gonna force yourself into believing anything right now, believe you want to go and have a drink with me. Come on.”

Some company and having his back was all she could offer.

And it was enough.

His laugh had a hint of bitter-sweetness in it. “Yeah, that much I can do.”

Maybe today he didn’t get what he was after, what he initially wanted… but he may as well gotten what he needed.

* * *

 

 **AN:** d r a m a

This was kind of a filler between chapters I had _actually_ planned out, but then I started writing it and im like oh shit its coming out well?? And now we’re here with 3800 words lmao

WE REACHED 300 KUDOS BTW WHICH IS FAB MMMMM

Love u guys!!


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